Shubman Gill's Captaincy Under Scrutiny: Hussain Notes Lack of Kohli, Sharma's Aura in Test Defeat Hoặc Nasser Hussain: Shubman Gill's "Reactive" Captaincy Misses Kohli, Sharma's Command as India Falters

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has weighed in on India's recent Test loss in Leeds, echoing Ravi Shastri's sentiments regarding Shubman Gill's captaincy and India's persistent need for a seam-bowling all-rounder. Hussain contrasted Gill's leadership style with that of his predecessors, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, while also raising concerns about the team's slip catching and lower-order batting woes that contributed to England's five-wicket victory.

Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill, key figures in the Indian Test squad.

The Leeds Test marked Gill's first outing as captain following Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format, with England successfully chasing a target of 371 runs, their second-highest ever on home soil against India.

Hussain noted that Gill's captaincy appeared tentative, missing the commanding presence that Kohli and Sharma exuded.

"I saw someone just finding his way, honestly," Hussain stated. "You've got to be very careful in the first Test match, the people he's taken over from, Kohli, and then Rohit Sharma. I thought he didn't quite have that on-field aura as the names I mentioned there. Looking down from the press box, it appeared to be captaincy by committee, which can happen in your early days as a leader because senior players like Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul want to try and help you out." He added, "I thought he followed the ball a lot. I thought he was reactive as opposed to proactive."

Hussain was also surprised that neither Gill nor any other senior players intervened in Ravindra Jadeja's bowling strategy on Day 5. The spinner struggled to exploit the rough patches on the pitch.

"A word with Jadeja, maybe as a young captain... Ravi Shastri and Mark Butcher were pointing out that the ball wasn't pitching near the rough. I was surprised that not one of the senior players or captains went to Jadeja and said, 'Can we go a little bit wider?' But Ravi's right, they lost the game for two things that he couldn't control: catches dropped and a batting collapse."

Hussain also highlighted India's ongoing search for a seam-bowling all-rounder.

"The slip cordon and the catching were poor, something that India have done well in the last two or three years, and the collapses concerned me," Hussain said. "India has a lower order with spin bowling all-rounders – Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar Patel – which are magnificent. In England, they are still looking for that seam bowling all-rounder, someone like a Hardik Pandya, going back to Ravi's times, Kapil Dev. They are still looking for that lower-order bowler who can bat. And if they keep going for, what, seven for 41 and six for 30 or whatever, then this could be a quick series. They need to run down the order."

The team's experiments with Nitish Reddy in Australia and Shardul Thakur in Leeds have yet to provide the desired balance in the lower order, as demonstrated by the collapses in both innings, despite the team managing five centuries during the match.