Not Gill! Ex-ENG Cricketer Says Pant Only Match-Winner In India’s Test Team | Cricket News

Last Updated:September 06, 2025, 17:05 IST

Roland Butcher says India will miss Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in Tests, with Rishabh Pant as the only current match-winner.

Rishabh Pant (left) and Shubman Gill during a Test match. (PTI Photo)

Former England wicketkeeper Roland Butcher believes India will feel the absence of batting stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in Test cricket after their retirement in May. He considers Rishabh Pant the only match-winner with the bat currently in the Indian team.

Following the retirement of Virat and Rohit from Test cricket, Indian cricket entered a new era. The Indian management placed their trust in Shubman Gill, seeing him as Rohit’s successor. Gill, India’s youngest Test captain, was tasked with leading the team in a challenging five-Test series in England. India showcased some memorable performances from Leeds to London, culminating in a dramatic six-run victory at The Oval.

Fans and former cricketers frequently highlighted moments during the series where India missed Rohit and Virat’s presence. Butcher remarked that while the players replacing them are “good players”, India lacks “match-winners” apart from Pant.

“Well, I think the Indian team is going to miss both of those players because Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were match winners. You know, they can turn a game by themselves. I think India, at the moment, has a very good side, but the team will not be as good without those two players. The players who have replaced them are very good players. They can score plenty of runs, but they will score runs over a longer period, which means that they don’t get themselves in the winning position that quickly,” Butcher was quoted as saying to ANI.

“So, I think the next couple of years are going to be a transformation for India. They need to find some match-winning batters. The only match-winner, really, in the team at the moment is Rishabh Pant. So, Sharma and Kohli’s absence from the team is going to be a huge loss for the team. I don’t think that, at the moment, any of the replacements are better than those two because, over the years, their track record has proved that they have been two of the best in the world,” he added.

Shubman Gill Has To Learn How To Captain?

Gill’s first assignment ended in a 2-2 draw, earning praise for India’s resilient performance under his leadership. The ‘never give up’ attitude defined India’s approach across the five Tests, though Butcher holds a differing view. He argued that Gill benefited from the favourable nature of English pitches.

“I think Shubhaman Gill, he’s young in terms of captaincy. So, he has to learn how to captain the game. And he’s captain in a new team, really, because he’s suddenly in the team with two of the most senior players missing. So, he’s got to find himself as a captain. He’s got to integrate the new players into the team, and he has to make his own identity. It’s not going to be easy,” he said.

“England, perhaps, was quite easy for him because the pitches were very good for batting. Both teams struggled to bowl the opposition out. So, he was able to make plenty of runs. He’s going to have much tougher tests going forward. How he handles that, we’ll have to see. But I think it’s important for India now to find the new players who come in, have to show the sort of ability that Rohit and Kohli showed, so that he can have an easy job as captain,” he added.

Rohit debuted in Test cricket against the West Indies in November 2013 and has played 67 Tests, scoring 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57, with 12 centuries and 18 fifties, and a highest score of 212. He is India’s 16th-highest run-scorer in the format.

Virat, who made his Test debut against the West Indies in 2011, became a prominent figure in Indian cricket, amassing 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85 in 123 Tests, with 30 centuries and 31 fifties.

(With inputs from ANI)

Ritayan Basu

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin…Read More

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin… Read More

Read More