Former New Zealand wicket-keeper batter Ian Smith was not happy with Shubman Gill's captaincy during the third ODI encounter between India and New Zealand in Indore on Sunday.
Following two early wickets for Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, New Zealand looked in a spot of bother. However, the hosts were unable to maintain the momentum as the duo of Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips stitched together a brilliant partnership to take the visitors to a brilliant position.
It seemed like Gill was out of ideas as the India bowlers failed to break the partnership and during the death overs, KL Rahul was seen moving the fielders around from behind the stumps.
Smith said that Gill needs to more active when it comes to his captaincy and added that it is his responsibility to motivate the team in pressure situations.
“I know that Shubman Gill is just learning the art of captaincy. But there's a lot, even now KL Rahul is chatting to Arshdeep down there as if to say, these are jobs that vice captains do," he said on commentary.
“Shubman Gill is now coming down to long off, which basically takes him out of the play. You've got to be part of the action as the captain, particularly when your team is under pressure,” he added.
Smith was also quick to point out that for a young skipper like Gill, it can be difficult to lead a side which has veterans like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
“I appreciate this as a young player. This is a hard team to captain because of the people around you within the group who have been former captains, most of them as well,” said Smith.
“You've got Rahul, you've got Virat Kohli, of course, you've got Rohit Sharma. You've got Shreyas Iyer, you've got senior players around you. And it's not always easy to take charge effectively,” he added.
