New Delhi – Having seen Shubman Gill from close quarters while serving as the batting coach of Gujarat Titans, Parthiv Patel is quite convinced that the young Indian skipper will have no difficulty navigating leadership as he is a decisive and assertive individual.

The 40-year-old former India stumper worked with Gill during the last edition of Indian Premier League and was impressed by his“inclusive nature” which is the hallmark of a good leader.

“Gautam (Gambhir) has spent extensive time with him now but what I have seen of him (Gill), he does prepare a lot for all kinds of situations and I have seen over one season, assertiveness of his decisions and he is very sure of what he wants to do,” Parthiv told PTI during an exclusive interaction.

“In Shubman's leadership, there is either“Yes” or“No”. There is no place for“May Be”. As a leader and captain, you need to have that assertiveness about decisions you take and he definitely has that,” added the former wicketkeeper-batter, who is working as media pundit in the ongoing Test series between India and the West Indies.

While there has been a lot of debate about whether Gill is being fast-tracked into multi-format leadership, Parthiv is of the opinion that it is a“progressive decision” and will benefit Indian cricket.

“Shubman has shown leadership skills leading Gujarat Titans in the IPL for the past two years, how he led the Test side in England, it is a great decision (to elevate him) and we are moving in the right direction,” Parthiv had very little doubt.

During his time with GT last season, what struck Parthiv about Gill's captaincy was his ability to be flexible after reading any particular situation. He doesn't have any fixed set of ideas, feels Parthiv.

“He is always open to suggestions. As a leader, he is an inclusive person and that's what you want in a captain,” said Parthiv, who was considered a fine captain in domestic cricket where he led Gujarat for a decade.

Leading Ro-Ko is least of problems

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Parthiv, who has played a lot of cricket with both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, feels that Gill wouldn't have any issue leading the two super seniors, who are themselves flexible individuals.

“I don't think that it will be problem because of the kind of characters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are. You look at Virat, he became captain when MS Dhoni was still playing. He knows what role a senior plays in grooming a new captain,” he said.

“Same thing was there when Rohit became the captain. Yes, Virat wasn't his senior but nevertheless a former skipper.

“Obviously, they have gone through that phase and understand the decision, which is about betterment of Indian cricket, both of them always come across as mature. I don't think Shubman needs to put in his energies behind managing those senior players.”

Ro-Ko will have to remain match-fit

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Parthiv has no doubt that Rohit and Kohli are both working hard in the nets like they have always done but with the ODI World Cup still two years away, the challenge would be to remain match-fit.

“Two years is a long time and especially if you see there aren't too many ODI games. Like earlier times when there used to be 20-25 games a year, you get on a roll and before you know two years passed by.

“But it is a different challenge and we are also new to this kind of a challenge. The challenge is to keep themselves match-fit.”

Parthiv feels that if the duo plans to play Vijay Hazare games in between the South Africa and New Zealand ODIs, it will only help them stay in the groove.

“I would definitely feel that they should play Vijay Hazare Trophy. It is not about setting an example like 'We have made Kohli and Rohit play Vijay Hazare'. That's not how I would like to think.

“Playing Hazare Trophy will help their own game and that in turn will help the Indian cricket team.”

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