Being Shubman Gill must be exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. Only 25, he is the face of Indian cricket, tasked with overseeing an era of transition as both Test and ODI captain. That means he is also the only player to not get a break since the IPL. He has been hopping countries and switching formats at a moment’s notice all through the year.Gill has gone from basking in the glory of a successful Test tour of England to enduring harsh scrutiny of his white-ball game, all in double-quick time. Gill will now play a Test match in Kolkata within five days of arriving from a white-ball tour of Australia, but that has almost become par for the course for him.
His customary, long nets session at Eden Gardens on Tuesday morning was another indication that he is just starting to get comfortable as a Test batter. The ‘workload management’ buzzword in Indian cricket doesn’t seem to apply to him at the moment.On the eve of the fourth Test in Manchester in July, Gill had conceded that the gruelling series had been mentally exhausting. The Indian captaincy, after all, comes with a baggage. But can the selectors and team management risk burning him out?Sources say Gill’s workload will likely be evaluated after six months. “One looks for small symptoms (of fatigue), like if his cricket skills seem to be lower than his usual intensity during training. One can better evaluate Gill by the time the T20 World Cup or the IPL comes around. Then you look back and assess the data,” the source said.“He’ll be high on adrenaline and confidence and that should see him through the home season. There’s a decent three-week break after South Africa’s tour and that will give him some time to rest. If his intensity drops in the T20 World Cup, the team management may have to revisit his schedule,” the source added.Former chairman of selectors MSK Prasad believes Gill’s age enables the selectors to push him harder than the others. “Kohli played everything when he got leadership. If Gill wants to take the responsibility of an all-format leader, he must not shy away from cricket, because he’s just 25. You are expected to endure that much cricket (at this age),” Prasad told TOI.“There’s is a definite fear of him burning out and playing in different formats could affect him. But if he has to be the leader across formats, he has to be with the team as much as possible. They could have rested him for the ODI series in Australia but taking over as ODI captain was also important. The selectors may think of giving him a break in one of the home ODIs,” Prasad added.For now, the good thing is that Test cricket is Gill’s comfort zone.
