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Sanjay Bangar praises Shubman Gill’s maturity and potential to lead India’s cricket team after his impressive performance against Pakistan.
Shubman Gill was sublime for his 46 against Pakistan. (AP Photo)
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar believes vice-captain Shubman Gill has shown enough signs to ‘shoulder the responsibility’ of the Indian men’s team in years to come.
Bangar’s comments came after Gill’s 52-ball 46 against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. Though he missed his half-century and was only the third-highest scorer in India’s innings, Gill showed immense maturity in hitting a flurry of boundaries against Pakistan’s ace, Shaheen Shah Afridi, immediately after he had gotten the wicket of skipper Rohit Sharma.
Gill’s knock also shielded Virat Kohli from the swinging ball in the powerplay and the former India captain capitalised on that with an unbeaten century. India won the match by six wickets.
“Clearly, he’s the guy who is going to shoulder the responsibility of the Indian team going forward in years to come,” Bangar said on JioHotstar, as quoted by PTI.
“(His) foundations are really, really strong and add to that the confidence of nearly two-and-a-half years of performing in one-day cricket. In one-day cricket, he’s been phenomenal. Now look, the straight drive, the on-drive are the shots wherein you cannot actually hit the ball really hard. But here, he was hitting the ball so hard that despite the mid-off and the mid-on fielder being on that 30-yard circle, the ball was going and hitting them. That’s the kind of timing he possesses,” he added.
Former India opener Navjot Singh Siddhu was also all praise for the 25-year-old, saying that he had done well to grow despite being in the shadow of greats like Rohit and Kohli.
“Look, see, nothing grows under a banyan tree and the banyan tree of Indian cricket is basically Rohit Sharma and with him, Virat Kohli. But when you look at Shubman Gill, those two straight drives, even the blistering cover drive, this is like a blitzkrieg where the opposition is taken aback, you know, it’s awe-inspiring,” Sidhu said.
“This man has emerged from the shadows of that banyan tree and has come of age. It’s tough to say that. You rate ability in men by what they finish, not by what they attempt. When you actually take your side through after scoring a hundred and don’t throw your wicket, that responsibility is making you better. It is developing you; it’s not ruining you. So, every responsibility that he’s shouldered has made him better. And to me, the best thing is, he’s technically so sound that he makes it look so easy,” Sidhu added.
- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
