New Delhi [India] May 24 : Former Indian cricketer Atul Wassan praised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors for their decision to appoint Shubman Gill as the new Test captain of the Indian men's cricket team.
He emphasised the importance of a captain who plays across all three formats and has sufficient time to mature into the role. This approach ensures stability and allows the captain to grow.
The announcement came from Chairman of the Senior Selection Committee Ajit Agarkar, who revealed India's squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against England during a press conference held in Mumbai on Saturday.
Shubman Gill has been appointed as India's new Test captain, and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will serve as his deputy in the longest format.
"I think this is a very good decision by the selectors. I have always said that there should be such a captain who has a guarantee that he should be a surety for the Indian team in all three formats. And secondly, he should have some time to grow in," Atul Wassan told ANI.
At 25, Gill has become one of the youngest players to hold the position in recent years. Though he lacks captaincy experience in the red-ball format, he has led India in a five-match T20I assignment in Zimbabwe in 2024. Gill has also been captaining the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Gill has also served as vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is. He was Rohit Sharma's deputy in India's victorious Champions Trophy campaign in the UAE in February 2025. In Test cricket, Gill has played 32 matches and scored 1,893 runs, including five centuries.
Wassan spoke about Indian batter Karun Nair, who is making a comeback in the Indian test team: "Karun Nair has been given another chance. Because the old players, especially in batsmanship, who have been playing for a long time, their quality, their lineage, it is very important to bring them."
Karun, who asked for a second chance with a heartfelt tweet in December 2022, made the most of the opportunity while representing Vidarbha domestically. The man who is just the second Indian to blaze his way to a triple hundred exhibited quintessential form and has pushed a case for his return to the Indian team since his last Test in 2017. He was the fourth-highest run-scorer in last season's Ranji Trophy with a staggering tally of 863 in nine appearances at 53.93.
He also believed a shift in the BCCI's mindset, citing Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan not in the Indian test squad and selectors going back to players like Abhimanyu Easwaran and Karun Nair.
"I think Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan not being in the team, and the selectors have gone back to players like Abhimanyu Easwaran and Karun Nair, this shows that there is a shift of mindset in BCCI," he added.