The Indian selectors have taken a giant leap of faith in appointing young middle-order batsman Shubman Gill as captain of the team to play five Test matches in England starting June 20. To be sure, they were stuck between a rock and a hard place following the retirements of first incumbent captain Rohit Sharma and then Virat Kohli within a fortnight of each other earlier this month.

With bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah making it clear he would not be available for the full series due to fitness issues, besides which he was not keen on the additional responsibility of captaincy, Gill was always the front-runner for the honour. It did not help........

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