Senior India batter KL Rahul has revealed he reached out to Shubman Gill 鈥榯he minute鈥 the latter was announced as the new Test captain. Rahul told the 25-year-old that he鈥檇 always have the senior Karnataka batter as a guiding hand if and when he needed any help in the new journey.
Gill is the fifth youngest captain in India鈥檚 Test history, and will start off with a difficult five-Test tour of England, which begins on Friday under the banner of Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. He got the job after Rohit Sharma鈥檚 retirement and beat several senior players to it. Rahul, who captained India in Rohit鈥檚 absence in 2023, was one of them. Some reports suggest that the Delhi Capitals star was not considered because of his age, 33.
鈥淚 reached out to Shubman the minute the team was announced, and when he was announced (as) the captain,鈥 ,鈥 Rahul told Sony Sports Network. 鈥(I told him) You will always find me around, any help, any guidance, if you need someone to share something with or talk to, I鈥檓 always there. But I believe you need to give people their space to really follow their gut instinct. If they need help, I鈥檓 always there,鈥 he added.
鈥淲e have been together. (If) we don鈥檛 get results our way, somewhere along the way, everyone makes mistakes. That鈥檚 not going to change. We are going to try and help out everyone in the team. I鈥檓 always there,鈥 Rahul said.
Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant were others who were said to be in the scheme of things. The former recently confirmed that he took his name out of the ring after discussing with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that his body won鈥檛 allow him to play all Tests of a five-match series, and they should look elsewhere.
Pant, 26, has been appointed the vice-captain. Although it can鈥檛 be said with certainty, their contrasting records as captains in the recent IPL 2025 might have played a role. When Gill was announced, Gujarat Titans were in the top-two and looked one of the favorites for the title. They lost in the Eliminator, eventually.