‘Gill has put his stamp on the team a lot like Kohli’: Ponting says Rohit was never an outwardly aggressive leader

Ricky Ponting on Shubman Gill's captaincy (Photo: BCCI)

India captain Shubman Gill showed a completely different side during the Lord's Test match against England. As both sides took aim at one another in the third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, tensions were running high. The series changed course on day three when Gill and the rest of the Indian team took aim at England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, who had purposefully delayed time to prevent India from bowling a second over before stumps.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has now commented on the entire incident, stating that Gill's outburst was "a little out of character," but that it was simply a leader's attempt to make a statement for his team.

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Gill rushed to the stump and yelled, 'grow some f*****g b***s' when Crawley continued to back away. The issue wasn't resolved, though, as a few balls later the India No. 4 batsman approached Crawley once more and spoke with him and Ben Duckett.

“That was a little out of character from what I've known from Shubman in the past. I am sure everyone that was there watching it and I know you would know him quite well, that's not what he's generally like," Ponting told ICC Review.

“That's the captain standing up for his team, that's a captain really wanting to show that it's his team now, and this is the way that we're going to play the game, and also, I guess, wanting to give a little bit back. The UK can be a hard place to play. The crowds, as much as they love their game, can be as hostile a place to play as anywhere in the world," he added.

A captain can always feel the pressure of representing their country, according to Ponting, who has a lot of experience playing in the UK.

The former captain of Australia also thinks Gill was attempting to leave his mark on his own team, similar to what Virat Kohli did when he succeeded MS Dhoni as captain.

As Ponting discussed Gill and Virat Kohli, he also mentioned Rohit and how he was never "outwardly aggressive" with the opposition group.

“The media there, when you're in a big series, when it's an Ashes series or when it's England and India, the media always feel like they're right on top of your back as well. I think that's him starting to put his stamp on his team. And a lot like Virat (Kohli) did, similar ways like that. Rohit (Sharma) probably was never as outwardly aggressive, I guess, especially to opposition players," said Ponting.

“I know he (Rohit) would quite often get aggressive with his teammates and try to bring the best out of them that way. But I love watching Shubman stand up for what he thought was right in the game last week," he added.

At the moment, England have a 2-1 lead in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The next match between the two sides is in Manchester, which starts on Wednesday (July 23).