India, June 13 -- Rohit Sharma's retirement from Test cricket, some five weeks back, opened up a leadership vacuum in the lead-up to a five-Test tour of England, India's first assignment in the new World Test Championship cycle. Jasprit Bumrah might have been the logical successor if not for the need to manage his workload, so the names that floated around were Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, with the experienced KL Rahul as an outside bet.

In their collective wisdom, Ajit Agarkar's selection panel - most certainly with inputs from head coach Gautam Gambhir - zeroed in on the 25-year-old Gill to lead the team forward. The vision was long-term; despite his tender years, Gill has been an integral part of the Test team since December 2020, a...