New Delhi, May 25 -- The Shubman Gill chapter in India's Test cricket history begins full of promise, but also full of pitfalls. Captaincy is a crown, alright, but one that can quickly grow prickly thorns. Not even Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli - India's three biggest cricketing icons - escaped harsh criticism when they captained the Test team.

Ironically, too, in the last Test India played, Rohit Sharma stood himself down so that Gill could come back into the XI. Now that has happened on a more permanent basis.

Gill will need to be at his unflappable, calm best to ride the inevitable highs and surf through the equally inevitable lows. His initiation is not easy. It would have been much easier to bed in as captain with a ho...