Shubman Gill is one of the finest and most complete batters in world cricket. Having made his India debut five years back, he has become a crucial member of the team’s batting unit. However, it is not only the batting that is impressive about Gill. The 24-year-old’s captaincy potential and the skill to deal with pressure have also earned him plaudits. Gill is the captain of IPL franchise Gujarat Titans while he also also led a young Indian team to a 4-1 win in the recently-concluded T20I series vs Zimabwe.

After the Zimbabwe series, Gill has been named vice-captain of the Indian cricket team for its upcoming tour to Sri Lanka. India will play three T20Is and as many ODIs in the outing.

Former India batting coach Vikram Rathour believes that Gill will lead the Indian team across all formats one day.

“Whatever I have seen him, be it for the Gujarat Titans or in Zimbabwe (when Gill led in a T20 series), he did a good job. He has shown terrific body language, which is a must if you are leading a side. Now with the vice-captaincy, the BCCI has given him extra responsibility and I am sure he will thrive in this role, ” Rathour told The Indian Express.

“I feel captaincy brought the best out of Virat and Rohit and I feel it will do the same for Shubman. Although, he is not yet the captain, being in the leadership group will bring the best out of him as well. This is I am very sure off. When you are in that role, leading others, it gives you that extra bit of responsibility, which is good and I think is great for a young kid like Shubman, who one day might lead India in all three formats,” says Rathour.

The hunger to bounce back and adaptive skills helped Indian team pull itself up following the shocking loss in the series opener to win the remaining four matches against Zimbabwe, said skipper Shubman Gill in Harare on Sunday. India suffered an unexpected 13-run loss in the first game of the five-match series as the team fell short of chasing a modest 115-run total on July 6. But the visitors quickly put the disappointment on the back-burner to win the series 4-1.

“I think, the hunger that we showed after losing the first match was fantastic to watch. When we came here, not everyone had a lot of hits in the nets. We weren’t really used to the conditions. The way we adapted (was great),” said Gill following India’s 42-run win in the fifth and final T20I.

‘Player of the Series’ Washington Sundar said the pace and bounce of the pitch here took the Indian batters by surprise initially, which cost them the first match, adding that the series win had given the side a lot of confidence going into the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka.

India will play a six-match away series against the Islanders from July 27, which includes three T20Is and an equal number of ODIs.

“Good to finish with a win. I felt after the first game that the condition were very similar to South Africa, with extra speed and extra bounce. Lots of takeaways, lots of learnings, a lot of confidence going into the Sri Lanka series,” said Sundar.

Young Riyan Parag (22 runs), who was involved in a 65-run partnership with Sanju Samson when the chips were down on Sunday, said the series opener made the team introspect its strategy.

“After the first game everyone woke up, and it was a clinical performance. Enjoyed it to the max,” he noted.