Shubman Gill was appointed as India’s Test captain on May 24 for the upcoming five-match Test series against England, and the 25-year-old right-handed batter from Punjab will make his Test captaincy debut on Friday (June 20) against the Poms at Headingley in Leeds. Ahead of Gill’s first Test as captain of the Indian cricket team, legendary Sachin Tendulkar was asked about his views on Gill’s appointment as captain by former England cricketer Michael Atherton during an interview with Sky Sports, and the batting great backed him. According to Sachin, Gill is a talented player who is eager to bring laurels to the nation. “Shubman is a talented player and very, very eager to go out and compete hard and bring laurels to the nation. I have faith in him. Whatever I have seen, I have interacted a bit with him. He is a good student of the game, and whatever I have seen him in IPL T20 leading Gujarat (Titans), he has been impressive,” Tendulkar said. In the upcoming India-England series, Gill will bat at No. 4 for Team India, and Sachin backs him to do something really special. “I am hoping that Shubman does something really special on this tour and owns that number,” Tendulkar said. Gill, who has never played as a No. 4 batter for Team India in any format of the game, will take the new role after the retirement of Virat Kohli. Kohli was India’s No. 4 batter in Test cricket from November 2013 to January 2025, but the 36-year-old right-handed batter from Delhi announced his retirement from the five-day format of the game on May 12. Gill confirmed his batting position Gill attended India’s pre-match press conference in Leeds on Thursday, and during the interaction with reporters, he said that both he and head coach Gautam Gambhir felt the No. 4 slot was ideal for him once Kohli retired. “After Virat Bhai retired, me and GG (Gautam Gambhir) Bhai had a discussion about it, and we were both clear that he wanted me to bat at No. 4, and I was also clear that I also wanted to bat at that number,” he said.