New Delhi, Jun 19: Shubman Gill should be given adequate “time and support” to succeed as he leads India through a tough transition phase, feels the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, whose advice to the new skipper is to focus on his own planning without thinking about opinions outside the dressing room.
The 25-year-old Gill will be leading India in the five-Test series against England in the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, starting Friday.
India will be without their batting talisman Virat Kohli, former skipper Rohit Sharma and senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, all of whom have retired from Test cricket.
“I think he (Gill) has to be given time. He has to be supported,” Tendulkar told PTI in an exclusive interview on the eve of the opening Test in Headingley.
Being Indian skipper is a high-pressure job and Tendulkar knows that varied opinions will fly thick and fast. But he expects Gill to have a tunnel vision.
“I feel there are going to be a lot of opinions that ‘he should do this and he should do that’. And all those kind of things will come into play. But what he should be focused on is, what is the team’s plan. What was the discussion in the dressing room. And is it going according to that?
“And all the decisions that are being made, are being made in the interest of the team or not, is what he should be thinking of…not the outside world where someone feels that he is being too attacking or he is being too defensive and all that. Those are opinions and people will give opinions.
“Eventually, what happens in the dressing room and what he is doing in the interest of the team is going to matter. And that is what should count, nothing else,” said the man, who has an unprecedented 51 Test hundreds in 200 games.
Batters can’t have one-dimensional game in England
Tendulkar, who has played five Test series in England between 1990 and 2011, feels that batters need to be adequately flexible in tweaking their game as per conditions.
“You need to respect the conditions and bat accordingly. Because when you respect conditions, you have that flexibility in your thought process, in your head. It cannot be one-way traffic that ‘my game is like this and I am going to play like this only’.
“One has to be slightly flexible in adapting to the approach and if we respect that, then a lot of things can fall into place,” the legend, who scored Test hundreds on tours of 1990, 1996 and 2002, said.
“But if one is adamant and doesn’t believe in changing too many things irrespective of conditions, then sometimes you end up paying a heavy price for that. So my message would be to respect conditions. You will know when to attack and when to defend,” the Master advised.
Despite the challenges, Tendulkar India has several positives to count on. Even back-in-the-mix Karun Nair or an inexperienced B Sai Sudharsan, who are yet to play Tests in England, have already played county cricket for Northamptonshire and Surrey respectively.
“I think all these guys have played in England. Not international cricket, but they have played cricket in England. So, I don’t think it will be something that they have never been exposed to. They have been exposed to these conditions.
“They have played in South Africa. They have played in New Zealand. They have played in Australia. And all these experiences teaches you a lot. You put those experiences together and put them to practice. I think they will be okay,” Tendulkar added.
“Two spinners only when there isn’t enough grass”
Leeds has been unusually warm this June and India can only think of playing two specialist spinner if conditions remain like this and surfaces are on the drier side.
“It again depends on the kind of surface that they are playing on,” Tendulkar replied when asked about the addition of a second spinners.
“Whether the surface will have a lot of grass or it may not have enough grass. So, the temptation to play two spinners would only be if there is not enough grass on the surface and overhead conditions like they are now. And if the conditions are like this, then one can think of playing two spinners.
Tendulkar believes spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will make it to the playing eleven.
“And if someone else has to come in the team, be it Washington Sundar or Kuldeep Yadav or whatever combination they decide to go ahead with, that can only be determined after looking at the surface.
“If the surface is really dry and there is not much of grass cover, then they might consider picking two spinners otherwise, I don’t see that happening.”
Manchester 1990 and Headingley 2002 are special
Among all the venues that India played at, Leeds is the trickiest venue in Tendulkar’s opinion.
Asked about the hundreds and 90s that he had scored in England, he picked his maiden ton in Manchester and his highest score in the country (193) in Leeds as two special knocks.
“First in 1990, when I scored my first international hundred and we were able to save the Test match, which kept the series alive and then the other one would be 193 at Headingley (2002), where we won the Test match.
“So these two hundreds would be important hundreds, I would say. I think the conditions when we played, I thought in Headingley, were completely different because it was not so sunny. It was cold and the pitch was damp.”
