Few cricketers have appeared as ready to lead the team as Shubman Gill. Everyone had this premonition soon after he made his debut in international cricket, and his genius on the field turned something as contentious as imagining the next Indian captain into a popular consensus. Yet, when his turn comes to lead the side, after being chosen as the successor to Rohit Sharma in Test cricket, there's a sense of panic around this appointment that had once seemed imminent. The fact that his captaincy career kicks off with a high-profile five-match Test tour of England only heightens the apprehensions. Gill does not have the privilege of familiarity that comes with the home conditions, nor the assurance that comes with 1177 Test runs being scored at an average of 42.03. When Gill goes outside India, his batting average drops to 29.50. In England, he has managed 88 runs across three matches. It's been over four years since Gill scored over 40 runs outside Asia. These numbers paint a picture of a batter whose promises are yet to be realised, and now that he is saddled with the responsibility of leading the team, his outcomes will be subjected to greater scrutiny. Besides confronting the weight of his middling returns in this format, Gill will be steering a team that is under transition, struck by the departures of three veterans: R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli.  

Their absence not only leaves the team short of expertise but also leaves Gill short of veterans on the field whom he can lean on for wisdom in moments of cluelessness. The squad that he inherits has a great blend of youthful promises and seasoned performers, but barring a few certainties, most of the spots remain unclaimed. He will have to show faith in his players while also wielding the axe when needed. Admittedly, the coach Gautam Gambhir will play a crucial role here, but as a captain, Gill will have to defend the choices that would eventually define his era.  

Barring Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Gill, none of the batters boast any experience of playing in England. No one knows what to expect from the likes of Sai Sudharsan, Karun Nair, and Dhruv Jurel. The English conditions—seaming pitches, overcast skies, and the swinging Dukes ball—will test India’s batting depth and bowling resilience. What also adds to his worries is the unavailability of Jasprit Bumrah for the entire series, as he will be playing only three Tests due to injury concerns. With India's pace attack heavily dependent on Bumrah's brilliance, their performance without him remains an intriguing uncertainty. There's a sharp drop in the quality of the Indian pace attack that will follow Bumrah and Mohamed Siraj. Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep, and Prasidh Krishna have never played in such conditions before.  

Gill inherits a two-fold quest as a captain: to build his repute as a premier Test batter that he always seemed destined for and rebuild the team adrift in a state of transition, giving them a new identity. Both these tasks are entwined, and his success or failure in one will also affect the other to a large extent. If Gill's misery as a batter continues, and coincides with the struggles of the Indian team, it won't take long before the sword starts dangling over his place in the team. If he regains his run-scoring proficiency, he could avert the clamour around his captaincy even if the Indian team are on an underwhelming stretch.  

There could not have been more challenging circumstances for Gill to begin his captaincy tenure. Ahead of Gill stands the daunting challenge of winning a Test series in England, a feat India last achieved in 2007. His first assignment could define his legacy, but even if he flounders in his first attempt, the axe won't fall on him immediately. There would be a space for him to introspect and reconfigure his methods, and the knowledge that he is not a short-term fix, but a long-term solution will give him confidence. "Gill is a young man we are investing in not just for one series, but for the next five-six years to take Indian cricket ahead,'' said chief selector Ajit Agarkar. Besides these legacy-building goals, India will also be chasing a place in the World Test Championship final. 

One might ponder if the captaincy came a bit sooner, but then rarely does a cricketer become captain exactly when the world thinks he is ready for it. There's never a perfect time to be an Indian Test captain, an honourable position that every aspiring cricketer dreams of, only few achieve it, and fewer ace it with aplomb. It's a job designed to suck you in with full force, and the world outside expecting you to absorb all the pressure and stand up to the task. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar relinquished the role of captaincy once it started weighing too heavily on him. But then the game has also seen someone like Graeme Smith, who took over the captaincy at the tender age of 22, at a time when the team was mired in match-fixing controversy, and rebuilt South Africa into a world-beating force. Kohli too felt the task of captaincy weighing down his personal result, and decided to step down to prolong his Test career.

Time will tell whether Gill blooms or wilts, but rather than pontificating over the conclusion of this new era, perhaps we should get on this hype train and let it drive us, for it surely has pretty interesting challenges, but also the characters to rise over them. It's the inherent quirk of the format where even top teams are perennially mired in existential crisis, the bleakness of the future always on the horizon. Yet, if there's a player in Indian cricket you expect to ace these challenges, it is Gill, an aesthetically gifted batter blessed with the basic ingredients that, if seasoned properly, can yield delectable results.