Sunil Gavaskar asserted that Shubman Gill—not Gautam Gambhir—should make the key decisions as captain, reigniting debate over who truly holds the reins of India’s Test team.
Gavaskar to Shubman Gill: “This is Your Team, Not Gambhir’s”
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar stirred debate on Saturday with his comments about the Shubman Gill–Gautam Gambhir coach-captain dynamic. Gavaskar reminded the 25-year-old that it is his team—not Gambhir’s—and emphasized that while the coach can offer input, final say in team selection must rest with the captain.
Following the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma earlier in May, many have referred to the revamped Indian Test side as “Gambhir’s team,” despite the selectors appointing Gill as captain. This has led to a key question: does Shubman Gill truly have authority in the dressing room, especially with the presence of the vastly experienced, two-time World Cup winner Gambhir?
Gavaskar on Captain-Coach Dynamics: “It Must Be the Captain’s Call”
On Day 4 of the must-win fourth Test in Manchester—part of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy—Sunil Gavaskar was asked directly whether this Indian team belongs to Shubman Gill’s or Gautam Gambhir’s generation. The legendary former batter reflected on how, during his own captaincy days, there was no such confusion—mainly because there was no designated head coach. Instead, teams relied on former players who acted as managers or assistant managers, offering advice casually during breaks or before matches.
“We didn’t have coaches. Just former players as managers or assistant managers. They were the kind of people you went up to for advice—at lunchtime, end of the day, or on the eve of a game,” Gavaskar told Sony Sports. “So, it’s hard for me to fully grasp this captain-coach combination. When I was captain, we had no former player. We had people like Wing Commander Durrani or Raj Singh Dungarpur. The only time we had Erapalli Prasanna—and he was great.”
However, Gavaskar was firm in his view that the final say in selection matters must lie with the captain. He referenced players like Kuldeep Yadav—who is yet to play on the England tour—and Shardul Thakur, who was dropped after the first Test but returned for the Manchester Test due to Nitish Kumar Reddy’s injury.
“At the end of the day, it’s the captain’s team, like Nasser [Hussain] said. You can’t say ‘he didn’t want somebody’—whether it’s Shardul Thakur or Kuldeep Yadav. If he’s the captain, people will judge him and his captaincy. So the call should be his,” Gavaskar asserted.
He also delivered a subtle but pointed remark, implying that not all selection decisions are the captain’s own, but are sometimes made to project an illusion of harmony within the team setup.
