Not MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli! Shubman Gill names captain he looks up to, eyes permanent captaincy of Team India

Shubman Gill has finally revealed the name of the skipper he looks up to and he has also dropped a hint that he is eyeing the permanent captaincy of the India National Cricket Team.

Rohit Sharma has been the all-format captain of the Indian team since Virat Kohli stepped down from his role. However, recently Rohit Sharma along with Virat Kohli retired from T20Is and no permanent captain has been named for the format.

Hardik Pandya is the top contender for the job because he was the deputy of Rohit Sharma, but the names of Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, and Suryakumar Yadav have also been thrown around for the role. Also, Rohit Sharma has clearly said that he will continue to play for a while in ODIs and Tests, hence, the captaincy in those formats is not up for grabs.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has now made his case strong for the leadership role of the Indian team as he led a young side to a 4-1 win over the Zimbabwe National Cricket Team in an away tour.

Under Shubman Gill's leadership, India faced a shock defeat in the series opener against Zimbabwe. Gill became just the third Indian captain to face a defeat against the Chevrons in the T20I format after Ajinkya Rahane and MS Dhoni.

However, he made sure that his team bounced back and led the side exceptionally well in the next four matches. Gill did a good job both as a leader and as a batter in the last four T20Is and helped his team win the series 4-1.

Speaking after the 5th T20I, Shubman Gill said that the captaincy brings the best out of him as he gets more involved in the game. He elaborated (as quoted by ESPNCricinfo):

"It is something that I definitely enjoy. "I think it brings out the best in me when I am out there because I look to be involved in the game. It is something that really brings out the side of me which I enjoy being on the field.".

There was pressure, I wouldn't say extra pressure - Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill admitted that he was under pressure as captain after losing the first game but he knows how to handle it. Shubman Gill stated:

"There was pressure, I wouldn't say extra pressure but obviously even when you are playing just as a batsman when you don't perform there is a certain kind of pressure that comes along with it," he said. "But I think that's the fun part of it. You kind of feel so many different emotions. Pressure is one of them. And when you get out of that, the satisfaction that you feel is immense."

Talking about the young team he led on the Zimbabwe tour, Shubman Gill asserted that he felt amazing to lead a bunch of phenomenally talented cricketers. He said:

"To be able to lead such phenomenal talented players who I have had the pleasure to play with or against at some stage in age-group cricket or Under-19 or at the India level, it just feels very amazing.

"When you have played against or with so many of the players... I think almost with everyone I have played against or with at some age-group level, it definitely makes my job easier because I understand them at a player level and I understand them as a person as well.

"So many talented players, so many players coming up and it is really fun to be able to play alongside them when I am at the non-striker's end," Gill said.

At last, Shubman Gill revealed that the captain he looks up to is Rohit Sharma but added that he likes to learn from MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli as well as Hardik Pandya. Gill said:

"You can take qualities from Rohit bhai or even Mahi (MS Dhoni) bhai, Virat (Kohli) bhai, Hardik (Pandya) bhai, all of them," he said. "All of them have great qualities. I have played the most under Rohit bhai, so he is someone who I look up to and really enjoy playing under."