Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has urged Shubman Gill to take a leaf out of Virat Kohli’s book in T20Is. Kohli played the anchor role successfully for India over the years in T20Is. Currently, India has adopted an aggressive batting template in the shortest format but Pathan wants Gill to take his time before catapulting his attack.

Gill is opening the innings in T20Is after he was named as the team’s vice-captain. Since then, the right-hander has been hot and cold in the shortest format.

Gill will return to action after recovering from a neck spasm, which he suffered in the first Test match against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

“I want to see Shubman Gill’s mental state in T20 cricket. It is important that Gill should not bat like how Abhishek Sharma and the other explosive batters are batting. He should bat according to the team situation, and demand, because he is that kind of a player. From all the years I have watched Virat Kohli play T20 cricket, Gill can also base his game like that and move forward,” Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel.

Pathan wants Gill to give stability to the team if Abhishek Sharma gets dismissed in a big match. Gill had managed only 12 runs in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan after Sharma was also dismissed cheaply.

“See, there will be some big matches where Abhishek Sharma will try to go big and will be out early. So, there you need stability, and Shubman Gill can provide that. But, it is important that Shubman Gill is not confused. If he is confused, then it will be a big problem for him. He is not Abhishek Sharma, he is not Suryakumar Yadav, he is not a 360-degree player, he is not MS Dhoni. He is not the type of player who can hit big sixes from the get-go,” he continued.

Gill has scored 837 runs in 33 T20Is at an average of 29.89 and a strike rate of 140.44.

The first T20I between India and South Africa will be played at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, on Tuesday.