Shubman Gill proud to captain India in 600th Test in Sri Lanka, targets WTC revival
Shubman Gill said on August 14, 2026 he was proud to captain India in their 600th Test as the side begins a series in Sri Lanka and that a series win would be crucial to keeping India in contention for the World Test Championship. Gill has completed a year as Test captain and spoke on the eve of the first Test about the challenge ahead.
India sit fifth in the WTC standings with a points percentage of 48.15, while Sri Lanka are sixth on 41.67 and Bangladesh are fourth on 58.33, leaving India with ground to make up with less than a year to go before the WTC final. A series victory in Sri Lanka is therefore important to India's hopes of climbing the table.
Gill said he was comfortable in his leadership role after a year in charge and outlined the scale of recovery required: "I am comfortable in my role as captain now. Our goal is to stay in contention for a berth in World Test Championship final. We need to win six or seven Tests for that. So we want to make a beginning here," he said on the eve of the first Test.
The article set out the points permutations for India in the WTC: a 1-0 series win with the other Test drawn would give India 16 points and take their tally to 68, lifting their points percentage to 51.51; a 2-0 sweep would award 24 points, taking their total to 76 from 11 Tests and raising the points percentage to 57.58.
Saturday's opening Test will be India's 600th in the format since their debut against England at Lord's in 1932, a milestone Gill acknowledged: "Leading my country in the 600th Test is an honour and doing so on Independence Day is an even bigger honour," he said.
There are selection questions around the batting order for the series: Devdutt Padikkal is expected to come in at No. 3 in the absence of Sai Sudharsan, and Dhruv Jurel is likely to retain his middle-order spot despite a lean run in recent Tests. On giving players time to settle, Gill said, "Players are going to grow on their own. We need to give time to them, some players require a bit of time."
Gill addressed Sudharsan's unavailability and communication with the Centre of Excellence, stating: "There is a constant communication with them. Unfortunately Sai Sudharsan did not improve as much as we liked as we can't take risks in Tests. But we are confident of our 15."
India begin the Sri Lanka series with Saturday's opening Test, the 600th Test in the nation's history and one that offers the first opportunity in the tour to secure the WTC points outlined above.
