Shubman Gill has said that there are no expectations or pressure on him from coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar ahead of his first assignment as the India Test team captain. Gill takes over as the new Test team skipper after Rohit Sharma retired from the longest format of the game. The 25-year-old will become India’s 37th Test captain.

Speaking to Dinesh Karthik in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Gill said that while it is a big post, he has been given freedom by Gambhir and Agarkar to express himself as a leader. The Indian Test captain said that he has expectations from himself but the head coach and chief selector aren’t putting any pressure on him.

“The expectations I’ve had this conversation numerous times with Gauti bhai and Ajit bhai. They just want me to be able to express myself as a leader. That’s what they’ve told me ‘there are no expectations’. They are not expecting me to do something I am not capable of. In terms of that, I don’t think that there are any expectations or pressure from them but you definitely have some kind of expectations from yourself as a leader and a player. So those are the expectations that I have from myself but not from them,” said Gill.

Shubman Gill’s goal as Test captain

Gill said that apart from winning silverware and titles with the Indian team, he wants to build a culture where the players will feel very secure and happy.

“Apart from all the silverware and trophies aside, I would ideally like to build a culture where everyone is very secure and happy. I know it can be a very difficult environment, especially with all the competition or the number of matches that we play and different squads coming in, but if I am able to do that, that would be my goal,” said Gill.

Gill’s first assignment as the skipper of the side will be the England tour, which will begin on June 20.