Now, the Indian Test cricket officially enters the Shubman Gill-Gautam Gambhir era, with all eyes on the upcoming five-Test series in England starting June 20. With stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma having bowed out of the longest format, a young Indian team is expected to usher in a bold new phase. While captaincy was handed to the 25-year-old Gill, the biggest question is about how the Indian batting order would shape up in this new era.
Not KL Rahul! Sai Sudharsan to open?
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and current PBKS head coach weighed in on India’s evolving Test squad and Gill’s elevation to captain. For Ponting, the leadership choice made sense. “It didn’t surprise me. Gill is young, composed, and already carries himself like a leader,” he said. He even agreed with the fact that India cannot have an injury-prone skipper in Jasprit Bumrah.
On the batting front, Ponting proposed a reshuffle, moving Gill to No.4 to ease the burden of facing the new ball in testing English conditions. So, Gill to replace Virat Kohli it seems.
“I think (Sai) Sudarshan and (Yashasvi) Jaiswal will open the batting (in England) as Sudarshan just looks like a class player to me and technically I think he could do well at Test level,” Ponting said at the ICC review.
“They’ll have two pretty young opening batters, so they might look to go for someone that’s got a bit more experience at No.3. Whether that’s KL (Rahul) or Karun (Nair) at No.3, and then Shubman might end up being that No.4 player, which will probably make life for him a little bit easier as a captain as well.“
“Not having to be opening or batting at No.3 as a young captain might make it easier. Their top five will probably be Sudarshan, Jaiswal, KL, Gill and Karun Nair for the start of the England series.”
Form with Karun Nair, KL Rahul & Sudharsan!
Recent performances back Ponting’s logic. KL Rahul scored a sublime century in the India A vs England Lions game. Although he opened with Yashasvi Jaiswal, the innings in Northampton was quite superb. He is now the most experienced cog in the Indian lineup. Sai Sudharsan, the IPL 2025 Orange Cap winner with 759 runs, has shown maturity beyond his years. He has previous County cricket experience as well and has a great camaraderie with Gill, too.
Karun Nair, meanwhile, forced his way into contention with a marathon double century (200 off 272) in the first unofficial Test. Having last played for India in 2017, his resurgence has been phenomenal. He broke all the doors with an exceptional domestic season. Since the 2024/25 season, Karun has clubbed as many as 10 domestic centuries, the most by any Indian!
What should be India’s top six in Shubman Gill-Gautam Gambhir era? Ricky Ponting breaks it down Inside Sport India.
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