Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had “very contrasting styles” of leadership but the two iconic players along with spinner Ravichandran Ashwin have given the Indian team the “blueprint to win” Test series away from home, says new skipper Shubman Gill, who was on Saturday appointed India’s captain in Tests. The first assignment for the 25-year-old is a five-Test series England where he won’t have stalwarts like Kohli and Rohit in the line-up. “(The) guys like Rohit bhai, Virat bhai and Ashwin bhai… they have given us a blueprint on how to tour away from home and win matches and series,” Gill said in a video released by the BCCI on Sunday.

“Yes, it’s one thing to be able to deliver and execute, but because we have that blueprint, we know how to tour away from home and win matches and series,” he added.

Gill said while Kohli and Rohit had contrasting styles of leadership, they were also quite similar in style.

“When I was a kid, I was always inspired by the great and the legends of Indian cricket and (I’ve) been very fortunate to be able to play with so many of them, be it Virat bhai or Rohit bhai,” he said.

“Both were very contrasting in terms of their style, but it was very inspiring to see both of them working towards a common goal. You want to be able to win as a captain and your styles can be different, but they both were very different, but also similar in their own sense.” “Virat bhai was always very aggressive, always wanting to lead from the front with hunger and passion whereas Rohit Bhai was also aggressive. You might not see that in his reaction or expression, but he was also someone who was always very attacking on the field,” Gill said.

The Indian Test skipper added, “Rohit bhai was someone was very calm and tactically always very present, and he was very communicative to the players, what he wants from the players, and so these are the qualities that I learnt from.” Often the burden captaincy affects the batting, but Gill said his approach would be to keep both segregated.

“One thing that I learnt was (that) if I am a batsman and batting out there, I want to be able to make decisions as a batsman and not as a captain,” he said.

“If I start thinking about other things, it just puts more pressure on me which is not required because when you are batting out there, you want to be able to take those risks, you want to be able to make decisions that you would make when you are playing just as a batsman.” He added, “Because that gives you the freedom (and) that is one of the things that I learnt that whenever I am getting out there, I just want to be able to make decisions as a batsman and not really want to think that ‘oh I am the captain’.” Gill said it was “overwhelming” to be appointed the Test captain as well as a “big responsibility”.

“Definitely (it is) a bit overwhelming,” he said.

“As a young kid when anyone starts playing cricket, they want to play for India and not just play cricket for India, but play Test cricket for India for a very long time.” “To be able to get this opportunity is a great honour and like you said, it’s a big responsibility. I’m looking forward for this exciting opportunity and I think the upcoming series in England is going to be very exciting one,” he said.

Gill said his captaincy philosophy would be to not only lead by example but also give his players their own space.

“I believe in leading by example — not just by performance, but I think off the field (as well) by discipline and hard work,” he said.

“As a captain, a leader should be able to know when to step in, but also when to give space to the players because everyone has kind of had a different life and grown-up differently.” “Everyone is a different personality and a good leader should always be able to know what makes his place, to be able to have the best performance or the best outcome, that is always exciting.” He continued, “To be able to have those conversation with the players, to be able to know them on a deeper level than just cricket because then you are really able to know what can get the best out of them.” PTI DDV AT AT

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