Opportunity to create magic beckons Gill and his band of brothers Premium

Opportunity beckons Gill and his band of brothers to create magic

The Queens Hotel is listed as a minute’s stroll from the Leeds railway station, in the heart of the city centre. It’s the Indian team’s abode for the duration of its stay ahead of and during the first Test against England, starting on Friday.

Long-term employees of the hotel insist that the throng of people hanging around the hotel, hoping desperately to catch a glimpse of the Indian players, has perhaps never been so thin. There is a certain lack of buzz that is unmistakable; several locals of Asian origin aren’t even aware there is a Test match imminent at Headingley.

Much of that apathy, if that’s the right word, in the lead-up to the latest five-Test showdown between the sides can be put down to the absence from the touring party of Rohit Sharma and his immediate predecessor as the captain, Virat Kohli. The latter, especially, is a darling of the masses here with his arresting personality and his excellent record while there is great love and respect for Rohit, not least because of the five hundreds he unleashed in the 2019 50-over World Cup.

It’s not that Indian fans have written off their team’s chances even before a ball has been bowled. The current lack of overwhelming interest stems from a certain disappointment at the Kohli-Rohit no-show, and the fact that when it comes to the popularity stakes, no one apart from possibly Jasprit Bumrah is in the same league now, with due respect to Rishabh Pant. That India are bang in the middle of transition in the five-day format is hardly in doubt. The unsuccessful tour of Australia, where they were beaten 1-3 over the winter despite bossing the opening exchange in Perth, marked the final Test appearances not just of Rohit and Kohli, but also that giant of an off-spinner, R. Ashwin. Between them, this trio boasts 296 Test caps; no side, however accomplished it might be, can immediately come to terms with the loss of such proven resources, which explains why not too many expect too much from a young side helmed by a first-time Test captain.

It’s the lot of Shubman Gill and his band of brothers to revive the interest and regather the attention of the Indian fans. Gill, only 25, isn’t unaware of the magnitude of the task that lies ahead of him. He has also been made aware numerous times on numerous platforms that India have won only three series in England since 1932, and that their last triumph in these shores came under Rahul Dravid in 2007.

The catchline for an old commercial on television went: “Tradition is what used to be.” It’s debatable if Gill shares that point of view, because he has shown great reverence and respect when it comes to tradition and history. But like the rest of his 18 other colleagues in the extended playing squad, he will be determined to write his and his team’s history of their own. What better time to kick off that process than right at the start, when external expectations might appear low but the fire is burning bright within the ranks?

India had a poor time of it in Test cricket between October and January, when they lost six of eight matches, among them an unprecedented three on the trot at home against New Zealand. Some, but not all, of that trauma has dissipated in a tsunami of white-ball action subsequently, not least thanks to ultimate success in the Champions Trophy in Dubai in February-March where Rohit was the Player of the Final against New Zealand and Kohli reiterated his standing as the ultimate chaser in 50-over cricket with match-winning efforts against Pakistan and Australia (in the semifinal). But the prospect of a return to the longer format will stoke pangs of anxiety in the followers, if not the players themselves, and particularly so considering that a plethora of top-order choices – Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Karun Nair – hasn’t played Test cricket in England previously.