'It would have been understandable if, after a gruelling tour where five Test matches were crammed into a little over six weeks, he had opted to rest.'
After leading India in a demanding tour of England, squaring the Test series 2-2, Shubman Gill will be seen in action in domestic cricket.
Gill was last week named captain of the North Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy, beginning on August 28.
Gill, who tallied 754 runs in the five Test series -- the second-highest ever by an Indian in a single series after Sunil Gavaskar's 774 in 1971 -- is expected to play in North Zone's opening clash against East Zone before leaving if picked in India's squad for the Asia Cup.
The BCCI's decision to have Indian contracted players to play domestic cricket and Gill's decision to play in the Duleep Trophy has received a thumbs up from legend Sunil Gavaskar.
'For far too long, Indian cricket has tried to live up to its eminent position in the game by ensuring that it sends a team to some of the fellow full member countries so that those countries can benefit from broadcast and gate revenue.
'While most of the senior and established players take a breather from these tours, those who are trying to concretise their places in the team go through another tour when their minds and bodies could do with a bit of a break.
'It was good, therefore, to see that after the tour to Bangladesh was postponed to next year, the BCCI resisted the pressure to send a team for a white-ball series to Sri Lanka this month.
'By doing that, the BCCI has prioritised domestic cricket, as it means that now most, if not all, of the top players will be available to play in the Duleep Trophy tournament starting shortly,' Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar magazine.
'Shubman Gill captaining the North Zone team is a massive shot in the arm for this tournament.
'By being available for the tournament, the Indian skipper is sending the right signal to the other members of the team.
'It would have been understandable if, after a gruelling tour where five Test matches were crammed into a little over six weeks, he had opted to rest.
'The fast bowlers not playing is good thinking, as it has been an unusually hot summer in England, thanks to global warming, and their energies must have been expended after the untiring spells they bowled throughout the series.'
Gill will lead a 15-member North Zone team that includes Team India pacers Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana.
Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel is set to lead Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy, while Rajat Patidar has been named his deputy, starting later this month, which will kick off the domestic season this year.
North Zone will face East Zone while Central will take on North East Zone in the season-opening Duleep Trophy matches in Bengaluru on August 28.
The final is scheduled for September 11 -- overlapping with India's Asia Cup campaign, set to begin September 10 in the UAE.
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