Indian youngster Shubman Gill left everyone spellbound with his batting performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia that concluded recently. Gill amassed a total of 259 runs in the three Test matches he played and that included two fifties as well, one of which was a match-winning knock of 91 in the series decider at the Gabba.
Even though his knock got a bit overshadowed by Rishabh Pant’s heroics later on, the victory couldn’t have been possible for India without the start given by Gill.
His performances have impressed former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop a lot. He spoke about him in a recent interview with Sportstar.
“In Australia, on those slightly bouncier pitches, Gill’s ability to play back and forward appropriately, to take on the short ball with aplomb, as a subcontinental player is the hallmark of the new generation of batsmen,” Bishop said.
“This hasn’t always been that way, as we know. His eye-catching, tall, elegant, languid stroke play was easy on the eye. His willingness to respect a certain slow or fast phase of the game showed a good cricketing mind and willingness to be flexible. It wasn’t a case of ‘this is the one way I play and I’ll only play that way’. More than anything, he kept improving and not backing down,” he added.
However, Bishop did find a “glitch” in Gill’s technique. But he also said that the youngster can score runs in almost any condition if he works on making some adjustments to his technique.
“He does have a glitch in technique which I was concerned about. He plays often from the leg stump, or leg side of the ball, which encourages seamers to challenge him around the fourth or fifth stump and bring the outside edge into play.
“Much in a way like Virender Sehwag used to do and he wasn’t too bad a player. In his final innings at Brisbane, he came across his stumps more at times and didn’t let his hands and bat stray too far from his body where he lost control of his stroke outside his eye line.
“So, he seems aware of it and is prepared to adapt. If he can achieve that, he will be able to continue to score under almost all conditions,” Bishop concluded.
