Pathan backs Gill as future India captain as old interview resurfaces

Former India allrounder Irfan Pathan has renewed the debate over Team India’s leadership, publicly backing Shubman Gill as a future allformat captain while also facing renewed scrutiny after an old interview in which he alluded to a “hookah” culture resurfaced on social media. Pathan’s comments, made in recent interviews ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 in the United Arab Emirates, both applaud Gill’s rapid rise and call on the Board of Control for Cricket in India to clearly communicate its longterm vision for captaincy.

Pathan argued that Gill’s promotion to T20I vicecaptain ahead of the Asia Cup, coupled with his appointment as India’s Test captain, positions the 25yearold as the logical longterm leader across formats. Gill led India to a 2 2 draw in a fivematch Test series in England, scoring 754 runs and earning Player of the Series honors. Pathan said the selectors and coaching staff are right to create continuity in leadership and that having different captains in each format is not a sustainable model.

Pathan added that the T20I vicecaptaincy would have been granted with the consent of incumbent T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav and that Surya should not feel threatened by Gill’s...