Monty Panesar feels Shubman Gill can’t be India captain in all formats

After the retirement of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli became the face of Indian cricket. For over a decade, Kohli's charisma has been witnessed not only in India but across the globe. Today, Virat's popularity is credited with cricket's inclusion in the 2028 LA Olympics. In India, he features on the posters of numerous brands. However, in the last few months, a new face has emerged, and his name is Shubman Gill. After the 2025 Champions Trophy, India's two most experienced cricketers, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, retired from Test cricket. 

Both had also retired from T20 cricket after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup.  Following this, India was searching for its next cricketing icon. Shubman Gill was slowly following in Virat Kohli's footsteps. For a while, it seemed that Shubman Gill had become the new face of Indian cricket. He later became the Test captain, then the ODI captain, and then the T20 vice-captain. To accommodate him in the T20 team, Sanju Samson was dropped from the T20 squad, despite having scored three centuries in his last 10 innings.

Under his captaincy, India also drew a historic series against England at home. Gill's consistent rise in Indian cricket fueled speculation that the BCCI was grooming him as India's next all-format leader, and he was expected to take over the T20 International captaincy after the 2026 T20 World Cup in March. But then the Indian team struggled, and so did Gill.

In the last few days, Gill's fortunes have taken a turn for the worse. Firstly, he failed against Australia in 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is. Following this, he suffered from a neck injury during the first test against South Africa. The Indian team wasn't able to chase 130 runs in the 4th innings. He returned in T20Is, but failed as a batter against South Africa. Due to his poor performance, he even dropped from the T20 International team and was not selected for the upcoming major event – ​​the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 – to be held in India and Sri Lanka.

Former England cricketer Monty Panesar delivered an aggressive opinion. He claims that Shubman Gill's seemingly reckless approach to the game makes him unfit to captain India in all formats. He praised Gill's natural talent but criticised his shot selection, saying that he often takes irresponsible shots. He added that Gill no longer had the ferocity and aggressiveness that define Kohli's leadership across all formats. 

"He is a complacent cricketer. He has a lot of talent, but he starts playing lazy shots in the game. Virat Kohli's intensity and aggression are evident in all formats. Shubhman Gill can't do that. Too much burden for him. He can't be the captain of all formats. It is too much for him," Panesar said.

Furthermore, he added that India won't miss Virat Kohli in white-ball cricket, but his absence is clearly felt in the red-ball format.

"In white-ball formats, you don't miss Virat Kohli as much. But yes, in Test cricket, it's clear that Virat Kohli is not there and the team's intensity is lower." he added.