Both Kohli and Rohit, two of India\u2019s modern greats, announced their retirements from Test cricket earlier this month, prompting a generational shift as India looks to the future. At just 25, Gill has been entrusted with the captaincy \u2014 a move that raised eyebrows among some pundits, but not Ponting.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI actually think it\u2019s the right move,\u201d Ponting said on The ICC Review, responding to debate around Gill\u2019s appointment. \u201cI know there\u2019s a lot of other people out there, pundits out there saying they can\u2019t understand why it wasn\u2019t Bumrah and why they have gone to Shubman, but I think it\u2019s pretty simple.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cBumrah\u2019s injuries are holding him back a bit in the last couple of years and you don\u2019t want that with a captain. You can\u2019t have a captain coming in and missing games here and there. So I think it\u2019s the right decision. Now that they\u2019ve made it, it\u2019s one they\u2019ve got to stick with and give him a good crack at it for a long period of time.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ponting, who has worked with Gill during IPL stints, praised the young batter\u2019s temperament and leadership skills, particularly after guiding Gujarat Titans during a turbulent IPL 2025 campaign.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cEven just looking back at the way he\u2019s handled this current GT team through this IPL, I think leadership sits really well with him,\u201d Ponting said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAnd the important thing for me with leadership as well is if you\u2019re a batter and you\u2019re a captain, you have to be scoring runs. And Shubman is doing that in IPL and I think the timing is right. I think you\u2019ll have a good captain who\u2019ll make a lot of Test runs going forward.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
While Gill\u2019s leadership qualities are not in question for Ponting, the position he should bat in remains open. Having oscillated between opening and No. 3 in his 32-Test career so far, the former Australia captain suggested that Gill might benefit from batting lower down the order.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI think (Sai) Sudharsan and (Yashasvi) Jaiswal will open the batting (in England), as Sudharsan just looks like a class player to me and technically I think he could do well at Test level,\u201d Ponting said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll have two pretty young opening batters, so they might look to go for someone that\u2019s got a bit more experience at No.3. Whether that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cNot 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.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Replacing legends like Rohit and Kohli in Test cricket is a mammoth task, but Ponting believes India is well-equipped to handle the transition.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always very hard to replace players like that have been around for so long, that have played that much Test cricket. But if any country can do it and do it quickly, India can because of the amount of young talent that they have,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen it first-hand for 10 years now around the IPL and we\u2019ve seen the emergence of Jaiswal and these sort of guys that have come into international cricket with India and done really well pretty much straight away. The skill side of it\u2019s one thing to replace and I think India will replace the skill side of it easily enough, but the experience is the big thing that\u2019s going to be missing for them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cSo now even with a young captain with Shubman Gill, they\u2019ll still have some experience around with KL Rahul and Bumrah and these sort of guys. But I think if you look at a rebuilding sort of phase, I think India can cope with it better than most other teams.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ponting also touched on the surprise inclusion of left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh in India\u2019s squad for the England series \u2014 a move that many viewed as a gamble. But having worked with the 26-year-old at Punjab Kings in the IPL, Ponting feels Arshdeep\u2019s skill set and familiarity with English conditions could be key.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI would actually have him in their Test team at the start (of the England series),\u201d Ponting said. \u201cHe\u2019s very skillful, he\u2019s played County cricket, he knows the conditions there and I think the Dukes Ball will help him in the UK as well. And I just think to have that point of difference, having a left-armer in your team, I think will be something that, if India don\u2019t do it then it\u2019ll be a bit of a surprise to me.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAs we know in England, the ball still swings 30, 40 or 50 overs old. So to have someone that\u2019s got that swing bowling ability and a left-armer I think is something that the Indian team should definitely look out for on that tour.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI would actually have him in their Test team at the start (of the England series),\u201d Ponting said. \u201cHe\u2019s very skillful, he\u2019s played County cricket, he knows the conditions there and I think the Dukes Ball will help him in the UK as well. And I just think to have that point of difference, having a left-armer in your team, I think will be something that, if India don\u2019t do it then it\u2019ll be a bit of a surprise to me.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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