Shubman Gill called Frankenstein fusion of Kohli, Rohit as Jos Buttler breaks internet with captaincy verdict

Former England National Cricket Team skipper Jos Buttler has delivered an ultimate verdict on the captaincy of the newly appointed India National Cricket Team Test skipper Shubman Gill.

Jos Buttler said that Shubman Gill will be a good mix of Virat Kohli's aggression and Rohit Sharma's calmness as a leader of the Indian Test team.

I think he'll be a mix of Kohli and Rohit - Jos Buttler on Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill is set to start his tenure as the India Test captain with the five-match Test series against the England National Cricket Team. After replacing Rohit Sharma at the helm, Shubman Gill will be aiming to create history by leading India to a Test series victory in England.

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Over the years, the Indian team have struggled to do well on English soil, with their last Test series win coming in 2007 under the leadership of the legendary Rahul Dravid.

Shubman Gill doesn't have a plethora of captaincy experience at the international level as he led Team India in just five T20I matches, winning four and losing one.

However, he has gained significant leadership experience by captaining the Gujarat Titans (GT). The IPL 2025 was his best season as a skipper because he took GT to the playoffs and scored runs consistently.

Shubman Gill might have received some good help from Jos Buttler while leading GT, and now the latter has shared his thoughts on the newly appointed India Test captain.

In an interaction on the For the Love of Cricket podcast, Jos Buttler said that Gill is a highly impressive player, and he would be a good mix of his two predecessors, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He said (as quoted by ESPNCricinfo):

"He's a really impressive player and an impressive young man. He's pretty calm and measured when he speaks, but [it's] interesting, I feel like on the field he's got a bit of fight about him; a bit of intensity, quite passionate. I think he'll be a mix of Kohli and Rohit."

He's obviously learned from those two guys - Jos Buttler

The England modern-day great Jos Buttler said that Shubman Gill has learned a lot from Kohli, who brings high aggression and intensity as a leader, as well as Rohit Sharma, who is more laid back in his approach. He said:

"Kohli [was] that sort of real aggressive [character], really transformed the Indian team, in your face, up for the contest. Rohit [was] a bit on the other side, a bit more laid back, very cool, calm, collected customer, but with that sort of fight. I feel like, from my time knowing Shubman so far, he'll be a bit in the middle. He's obviously learned from those two guys… but he'll be very much his own man."

Jos Buttler added that managing his batting alongside the burden of captaincy will be a challenge for Gill. He said:

"He talked about compartmentalizing batting and captaining, so when he's batting, he just wants to be a batter, and then he will try and work on his captaincy and try and separate the two roles.

"When you're doing such a big job as being captain of the Indian cricket team, he'll have to try and do that well and have some good people supporting him."

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Indian Test captain is like the third or fourth-most influential person in India - Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler also spoke about the fame and power an Indian Test captain holds in the country and said:

"I don't think we can quite understand the level of interest and the stardom that these guys have. You see it around the IPL, you're aware of it, but actually living that yourself…"

"I think they say the Indian Test captain is like the third or fourth-most influential person in India, behind the Prime Minister etc. - so you really are put up on that pedestal."

Buttler, in the end, predicted that the 'Prince' Shubman Gill would be batting at the No.4 spot and would have big shoes to fill because, over two decades, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli batted at that position. He asserted:

"Kolhi is the king, Shubman is the prince: that's the narrative that they spin out there, and I feel that he's the coming man… Stepping into that No. 4, it's big shoes, isn't it? Coming behind Virat, and Sachin Tendulkar before that as well. That's obviously a huge role."