Veteran Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla reckons youngsters like Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad can fill the big shoes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have retired from T20I formats after leading India to glory in the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Gill has grabbed his opportunities in ODIs and he also performed well while batting at number three in the five-match Test series against England earlier in the year.
Gill scored 452 runs in five Test matches against England at an average of 56.50 and finished as the second-highest run-getter.
Gill has scored 1492 runs in 25 Test matches at an average of 35.52, including four centuries whereas he has scored 2328 runs in 47 ODIs at an impressive average of 58.2.
On the other hand, Ruturaj Gaikwad has received sporadic chances in white-ball formats for India. Gaikwad scored 133 runs in three innings of the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe at an average of 66.50 and a strike rate of 158.33.
The right-hander was also the second-highest run-getter in IPL 2024 as he scored 583 runs in 14 matches at an average of 53 while leading Chennai Super Kings for the first time.
Gaikwad returned with scores of 5 and 46 in the Duleep trophy clash against India D while leading India C.
Speaking on Shubhankar Mishra podcast, Piyush Chawla said, “Shubman Gill – because of his technique. Whenever one goes through poor form, a batter who is technically strong can come out of it. Any batter who has a good technique cannot stay out of form for too long. So, Shubman Gill for sure and Ruturaj Gaikwad.”
On Gaikwad getting sporadic chances because of injury concerns, Chawla said, “(Getting dropped/ injured) is part and parcel of the game. It will keep happening. But, whenever he has got the opportunity, he has looked different. For me, these two players (Gill and Gaikwad) are special.”
Shubman Gill will be in action in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
