Sanjay Manjrekar admits blocking Shubman Gill from..

Sanjay Manjrekar, a former Indian batter and an outspoken cricket pundit, has openly admitted that he was never in favor of Shubman Gill being named India's Test captain. Just as fans were celebrating Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 127 on his captaincy debut against England in the first Test, Manjrekar’s bold revelation raised many eyebrows.

The commentator has yet again stressed that Jasprit Bumrah was the more deserving candidate for the Test captaincy, citing the premier fast bowler’s proven match-winning performances across all conditions and in all three formats of the game.

Sanjay Manjrekar was against Shubman Gill’s Test captaincy appointment

Manjrekar believed that the Indian selectors made a questionable call by not making Bumrah the new Test captain. But there was another story behind Gill’s appointment. Actually, Bumrah had already informed the BCCI, even before the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, that his body could no longer handle the dual pressure of leading and bowling in Test cricket.

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His clear message left the national selectors with no choice but to name Gill as the face of India’s Test future. However, Bumrah made these revelations after embarking on an England tour where the Indian cricket team is playing a five-match Test series under Gill’s captaincy.

Sanjay Manjrekar said on JioStar, “I was against it. Let's be very honest, because I thought Bumrah would have been the better choice and the logical choice, without really thinking too much about the future, looking into the crystal ball. So, I don't think it was the right decision.”

Sanjay Manjrekar admits never doubted Shubman Gill’s temperament, but his overseas run

The former Indian cricketer explained that he never doubted Gill’s calm mindset as a captain. He even felt Gill wouldn’t let the responsibility affect his game, but he was not sure whether he was ready for such a big role, especially since he was still finding his feet in overseas conditions.

Manjrekar further mentioned, “But was Shubman Gill going to be a failure as captain? No. As captain, temperamentally, we knew that he wouldn't carry the anxiety of being the captain and affect his pattern. That is something we knew.

The only question that we had was that he was still a kind of evolving material when it came to overseas cricket. There were some questions about whether the added pressure of captaincy could be too much for a guy who has not quite made a mark in overseas cricket.”

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Gill doesn’t have a great record in the overseas Tests, averaging just 27 away from home. Many, including Manjrekar, had their doubts. But the young Indian captain silenced his critics with a brilliant century on Day 1 of the ongoing first Test against England at Headingley.

Sanjay Manjrekar says Shubman Gill fixed his flaws and proved everyone wrong

Manjrekar admitted that Gill fixed key technical flaws and showed the class everyone with his stunning knock on his Test captaincy debut, and that too in England.

He signed off by saying, “Today, he got rid of three important technical areas that have, you know, prevented him from getting big overseas 100. The pitch was good, the bowling was friendly, but once he got rid of those technical issues, there's only one strength to look at when it comes to temperament and other things.”

Notably, Gill led India from the front with a remarkable knock of an unbeaten 127 and stitched a crucial 129-run third-wicket partnership with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who impressed with a fluent 101. The Indian captain then stitched an unbeaten 138-run partnership with Rishabh Pant (65*) to take India to 359/3 at stumps on Day 1 against England at Headingley.

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