Exclusive: Shubman Gill Must Find His Own Way — Not Imitate Virat Kohli’s Fire, says Former India Batsman

Shubman Gill is not an angry young man. He is inherently a composed character. He lets the bat talk. 

The third Test between England and India at Lord's witnessed a different side of the 25-year-old Indian Test captain. 

At the stroke of stumps, he told Zak Crawley to "grow some f****** balls" with hand gestures and exchanged a few words with Ben Duckett as the openers were tactically wasting time to avoid another over.

His choice of words and theatrics fired up England skipper Ben Stokes, and they won the Test by 22 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. Big players usually flourish if sledged, a typical trait of former India captain Virat Kohli. Gill didn't. He fell for six in the chase of 193.

When he came out to bat amid sledging from Duckett and vicious outswingers from Brydon Carse, he did not look like the batter who had smashed 585 runs in the first two Tests.

Unnatural aggression of Gill

Former India batter Manoj Tiwary reasoned that Gill's failure with the bat at Lord's could be due to the unnecessary aggression while fielding. 

"I don't like the way captain Gill is going about things. I think he is trying to copy what Virat did last time. And as a result, it is not helping his batting," he told SportsBoom.com ahead of the fourth Test in Manchester starting July 23.

"Ever since he became a captain in the IPL, I have noticed that he is getting into an aggressive mindset, and having animated chats with umpires," added Tiwary, referring to his runout during the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, when he had charged at the fourth umpire. 

"It was unlike Gill. He doesn't need to show that kind of aggression, and doesn't have to prove anything."

Tiwary understands that a leader should have some aggression and protect his players, but there needs to be a balance. 

"I know a captain should lead from the front, but this much aggression is not required. It takes your energy away."

Verbal exchanges are not necessary

A veteran of 148 first-class matches for Bengal, 12 ODIs, and 3 T20Is for India, Tiwary encouraged Gill to create his brand of leadership. 

"He can stick to his style of being aggressive. It doesn't mean that you have to always give it back verbally. Aggression can also be shown by winning Test matches. India could have easily led the series 2-1. Such aggression is not good for the game, especially from the captain of the Indian cricket team."

"I am not happy with the language and words that are coming in the audio when they are near the stumps. You are representing the Indian cricket team. I think this has become a trend, as previous captains have probably used such words to express their anger, but this needs to be controlled. If you use slang, the next generation will pick it up," he said.

Tiwary urged Gill and Co. to be smart regarding their body language. 

"When things are going against you, then you apply that technique; like distract the opponent, glare into the eyes of the batter or something that will put them off. But you have to be smart and use it when things aren't working for you, not when the game is in your control."

India must win at Manchester to save the series, and all eyes will be on Gill and how he operates his troops, apart from eyeing another impact knock.