Shubman Gill’s Team India faced stubborn resistance on the brink of a series clean sweep on Thursday when Sri Lanka’s lower-order eked out a draw in the Colombo Test. Led by a superlative century from Sonal Dinusha, India were denied victory after asking the hosts to follow on.

Former India all-rounder Ajay Jadeja highlighted the one quality of Gill’s leadership that may have come in the way of India’s decisive plans on the final day. Jadeja said that the 26-year-old Gill carries a particular liking towards handling field placements for the shorter deliveries used by his pacers.

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“Every captain leads based on how he thinks about the game. One clear thing with Gill is he likes having deep square leg for his pacers, and he loves short-pitched bowling. That’s something you don’t see as often with others. So that’s one bias he has where he uses the seamers with short balls and not just with line and length, with pressure on,” Jadeja told Sony Sports.

“So he likes to attack with the seamers. Whereas with the spinners, it’s the other way around. Maybe because he bats the spinners so comfortably, he feels spinners can’t get you out here and there. So invariably, whatever the situation of the game is, one step lower is the field he sets as an attack for the spinners. It’s a standard you set for yourself with defensive fields for the spinners.”

Despite the series ending 1-0 in India’s favour, their World Test Championship final chances took a hit with their points percentage slipping to 51.51 after 11 matches this cycle.

Jadeja said Gill’s attacking ploys and tactics will evolve over time.

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“He just loves attacking with short-balls for the pacers, and that’s his style, and he will evolve. But at this level, it’s the bowler who decides the fields and the captain agrees or disagrees, which is his choice. But it is the bowler who decides, and the captain gets the credit and the blame,” added Jadeja.