Moment of reckoning for Shubman Gill as India start first Test at Galle
Shubman Gill faces what the report describes as his biggest examination when India begin the first of two Tests against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium on August 13, 2026. The contest arrives with Gill carrying the dual burden of captaincy and batting responsibility for India.
Rohit Sharma announced his Test retirement in May last year, and selectors led by Ajit Agarkar opted to hand the Test captaincy to Gill rather than Jasprit Bumrah or K.L. Rahul. Bumrah had captained in Rohit’s absence in England in 2022 and served as deputy on the Australia tour, leading the side in the first Test in Perth and the fifth Test in Sydney, but his unusual action and consequent physical strain mean he cannot be relied upon for every Test; he is not in Sri Lanka, recovering from an impact injury to his left knee. Gill had limited First Class leadership experience but was an established captain with the Gujarat Titans, and the selectors identified him as the long-term option.
Gill responded to the promotion with prolific runs on the five-Test tour of England, scoring 754 runs from the series with four centuries in 10 innings. The 25-year-old opened the campaign with 147 in the first innings at Leeds, then produced 269 and 161 at Edgbaston, the latter innings struck at a rate of 99.38; his 430 runs at Edgbaston rank second in a single Test behind Graham Gooch’s 456 (333 and 123) against India at Lord’s in 1990.
After a brief dip of 34 runs across three innings, Gill produced a patient hundred in Manchester during a match in which India lost early wickets to Chris Woakes and then built a 188-run stand with K.L. Rahul. Gill was dismissed off Jofra Archer just before lunch on the final day after more than six hours at the crease. Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar then recorded unbeaten centuries in an unseparated fifth-wicket stand of 203 that left India with hopes of levelling the series at the Oval.
In the deciding moments of that tour, Gill relied heavily on Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna—due in part to Bumrah’s absence and Akash Deep’s ineffectiveness—and the pacers took nine wickets between them as India claimed a six-run victory to finish the series 2-2. The result and Gill’s contributions provided vindication for the selectors’ decision to back the Punjab batter.
Over the following 12 months Gill played four further Tests, captaining India to three wins and playing a fringe role in a defeat in Kolkata against South Africa, the defending World Test champions. He made 50 and an unbeaten 129 against West Indies in Ahmedabad and Delhi last October as India won both matches, but endured the Eden Garden defeat where India were set 124 in the fourth innings, collapsed by 30 runs, and Gill faced only three balls; he had also missed the New Zealand Test in October 2024 due to neck problems and in Kolkata his neck flared after a sweep and he was escorted off.
Gill was ruled out of the final Test in Guwahati, Rishabh Pant took over the captaincy and India suffered a 408-run loss—their heaviest margin by runs—with Pant criticised for a stroke of “terrible thinking and execution” in the first dig. India have lost two of their last series at home after more than a decade without a home series defeat, and the touring party to Sri Lanka is missing Jasprit Bumrah, Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar and Harshit Rana through injury; only Ravindra Jadeja, K.L. Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav in the squad have prior Test experience in this part of the world.
India resume their World Test Championship campaign after an eight-and-a-half-month hiatus and sit mid-table with four wins from nine matches following a 0-2 loss to South Africa. They must win seven of their nine remaining games—including two away in Sri Lanka and New Zealand and five home Tests early next year against the Aussies—to reach the WTC final under their own steam, and the first of the two Sri Lanka Tests at Galle International Stadium begins over the next fortnight.