Shubman Gill reminds Andrew Strauss, the last England captain to win the Ashes Down Under, of his early days as skipper when the extra responsibility of leadership had a positive influence on his batting.

Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the ongoing Lord’s Test, Strauss said captaincy has helped Gill the batter who has amassed 601 runs in the series thus far.

Gill’s record in SENA countries was questioned ahead of his first Test series as captain but the 25-year-old has silenced his doubters by elevating his red ball game to the next level.

“He's had an exceptional summer thus far. Yeah, well, I mean, just a quality player, a fantastic technician. But I also think back to my times when I started the captaincy with England, that extra responsibility really helps your batting in the early stages.

“Maybe towards the back end it becomes more difficult, but right at the moment he's in that sweet spot, and I suppose he's just got to ride the wave and enjoy it,” said the 48-year-old former opener, who captained England in 50 out of the 100 Tests he played.

Not surprised that India have moved on quickly from Virat and Rohit

The Gill-led Indian batting line-up has delivered instantly following the high-profile retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Strauss also called Yashasvi Jaiswal an extraordinary talent and said the depth of talent in India has allowed them to undergo a smooth transition.

“I'm not that surprised because I think there's so much depth in Indian cricket now. You only have to look at the IPL and Under-19 and whatever. You've got so much depth there, and certainly in the batting department.

“I still think Jadeja and Ashwin were a very potent combination, and so to have the support there for Bumrah, both the seam bowling and the spin bowling. It still remains to be seen how effective that is over the course of the series,” said Strauss.

Among his tribe, Jaiswal stands out for Strauss.

“Jaiswal is an extraordinary talent. I've sort of watched him over the last three or four years. I was sort of loosely involved with the Rajasthan Royals for a while, so just watching him come of age I suppose and take to Test cricket so easily has been great.

“And then, in England, Ben Duckett is really impressed. He's really impressed with his performances in all formats.

“He's one of the very best openers in the world these days,” said Strauss on the occasion of RedForRuth, an annual cancer fundraiser in memory of his late wife Ruth Strauss.

No point complaining about the ball

On the controversy surrounding the Dukes ball in the ongoing series, Strauss said complaining constantly about the ball doesn't help the fielding team.

The ball was changed twice in the morning session on day two with India not pleased with the state of a 10-over old Dukes.

“Truthfully, we’ve had very good weather and so that also sort of has an effect on the balls getting soft, but each batch of Dukes balls is slightly different and that's the nuance of cricket isn't it? “Nothing's ever quite the same, the conditions are always slightly different, the balls are different and it's the same for both sides so you've got to find a way to win.

“Yeah, I mean ideally you wouldn't want to have to change balls all the time, but there's no point, as players I always feel like there's no point in complaining about it. You've just got to get on and the team that reacts best to those circumstances will be at an advantage,” said Strauss.

Strauss on his preferred mode of Bazball

England have caught the cricketing world’s attention with their aggressive style of play but they are yet to win a major trophy in the Ben Stokes era.

In the first innings of Lord’s Test, England showed their willingness to change if the pitch doesn’t allow free flowing strokeplay.

“You need to probably get, over the course of two innings, 600 runs plus and take 20 wickets. And how you do that, there are lots of different ways of doing it. But that's what England needs to do more consistently. And especially when the weather's like this, taking the 20 wickets is the big challenge.

“I'm very supportive of the aggressive, positive approach that they've displayed over the last couple of years. So, I think they're right.

There are times where you need to suck it back a little bit and make sure that you don't give away your wickets easily. But I still expect this England team to continue playing positively,” said Strauss.

We are evolving to club first model

With the rapid growth of T20 leagues around the world, Strauss feels the cricketing ecosystem is moving towards club first model at the expense of bilateral international cricket.

“We are definitely generally evolving to the club first model, and the best players will be playing in a number of tournaments around the world.

“I've got no doubt about that. But, you know, I also feel like the World Test Championship final was a good example of the opportunity maybe just to expand that concept a little bit and make sure that players keep their focus on test cricket at the right moments. Not all the time, but at the right moments, you want the best players playing Test cricket.

“They're getting paid much more to play T20 cricket than they are to play Test cricket, so that is dangerous, in a sense, if you're a Test cricket fan. But I still think the best players want to be able to play Test cricket. For England, India and Australia, it's not too much of a problem,” Strauss added.

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