Sanjay Manjrekar backs Shubman Gill to have a longer career than Shreyas Iyer, says Mumbai batter doesn’t give that impression

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes Shubman Gill will have a longer career than Shreyas Iyer after the former scored a match-winning knock against Bangladesh in the ongoing Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Thursday.

Gill scored a fine knock of 101 runs off 129 balls in the run-chase of 229 against the Tigers. India was put under a bit of pressure in the second innings after they were 144-4 at one stage however Gill was able to get his team over the line along with KL Rahul, who scored an unbeaten 41.

On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer was dismissed after scoring 15 runs. Meanwhile, Gill recently scored 259 runs in three ODIs against England at 86.33 whereas Iyer was the second-highest run-getter of the series as he amassed 181 runs at 60.33.

Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo, “He [Gill] is batting at the right position to make a huge impact. When he gets a hundred, like today, it seems like there is plenty left in the tank. It was like 60% of Shubman Gill is enough to get a hundred like this and he stays till the end. That is the difference between Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill that Gill will take you right till the end. He is somebody who you think is going to be around for 10-15 years. Shreyas Iyer, despite his obvious talent, doesn’t give you that impression.”

“Some of the shots he played, the good-length ball he hit and it went into second tier… the big game is at his beck and call. Can he be better in 50-over cricket as a batter? I don’t think so, what can be better than this?”

Manjrekar highlighted that Gill is not a one-dimensional batter and he has all the gears in his arsenal.

“Shubman Gill is that kind of a player, he is not one-dimensional, he has all the gears and we saw him do that today as well. He is a guy at the top of his 50-over-cricket prowess and he does it very calmly. There is an air of dominance and surety with the way he bats and finishes games. And also the ability to nick off singles, keep that scoreboard ticking. It is not that he plays the sweep shot a lot or the dab,” said Manjrekar.

Speaking further on Gill’s batting technique, “He goes very traditional and loves to keep the bat straight. Even when he is playing the pull shot, the bat comes down very straight. A lot of his singles would be back-foot punches to long-on instead of playing just with soft hands. A guy who can get singles at will, can hit a six at will, has got a reasonably good defence for 50-over cricket, he’s the complete player at the moment.”

India will next take on arch-rivals Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday.