Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reckons we can’t be too critical of Shubman Gill but his numbers are not stacking up nicely. Gill has returned with scores of 7 and 11 in the first two T20Is against New Zealand. The youngster has been in top form in the ODI format but he is yet to take the T20I format by storm.
Gill has scored 1254 runs in 21 ODI matches at an average of 73.76 but the right-hander has scored only 76 runs in five T20Is he has played at an average of 15.2 and a strike rate of 128.81.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “It was not a straightforward run chase. I think Mitchell Santner’s captaincy was very good, he rotated his bowlers well, got Glenn Phillips and [Mark] Chapman also to bowl. It was an almost identical dismissal for Shubman Gill.”
The former Indian opener added: “He [Gill] was dismissed off Santner’s bowling in the first match and here, Michael Bracewell. He is trying to play the pull shot but getting the leading edge, it happened both times. Happens on a turning surface.
“You can’t be too critical but numbers are not stacking up nicely for him, that’s a problem.”
On the other hand, Suryakumar Yadav scored 26 runs off 31 balls to help India get over the line in a tricky chase. The right-hander was awarded the Player of the Match for his gutsy knock but Chopra added SKY was also struggling to get going in the run-chase of 100 runs.
“Ishan Kishan was looking decent and he got run out. Rahul Tripathi also swung his bat but how many runs will you score here? Suryakumar Yadav, who is in amazing form, was also seen struggling.”
“Washi (Washington Sundar) got run out. Two players got run out in a small run chase and the match went till the last over. It seemed at one stage that we might not be able to win but ultimately a four was hit and we won.”
India was able to get over the line in the run-chase but it was a difficult pitch to bat on. The third and final ODI of the series will be played at Ahmedabad on Wednesday
