IND vs BAN: Aakash Chopra spots MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli-like quality in 'future superstar' Shubman Gill

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that Shubman Gill has one quality that reminds him of the legendary players Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. Chopra feels that Gill understands the pulse of the game just like Kohli and Dhoni. Gill will feature in India's upcoming Test series against Bangladesh.

Shubman Gill has established himself as a regular member in all the formats of the game. His growth since his international debut has been phenomenal so far. While he is still finding his feet in Tests and T20Is, he has been a key member of India's ODI team.

Not only in international cricket, Gill has a great record in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well. Currently, he leads Gujarat Titans and scored 890 runs in IPL 2023 which is the second highest tally in a season after Virat Kohli's 973 in IPL 2016.

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Aakash Chopra underlines a quality in Shubman Gill that reminds him of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni

During a podcast on Raj Shamani's YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra spoke about Shubman Gill and the special qualities that separate him from the others. Chopra reckoned that Gill understands the pulse of the game just like Kohli and Dhoni. He claimed that this is these are the traits of great players that they understand the pulse of the game very quickly.

“The biggest quality of Shubman (Gill) is that he understands the pulse of the game. Some players are very quick to understand. Some understand eventually. Some never understand. So, the greats you see, they understand very quickly. So, Virat Kohli understood the pulse of the game very quickly. Mahendra Singh Dhoni understood the pulse of batting in ODIs very quickly,” Chopra said.

“Shubman Gill understands the pulse of the game. He understands 100% where the game is going. Where can I go? Where can I take it? How can it run according to me? He is absolutely brilliant. He is top-class about himself,” he added.

Shubman Gill's records in ODIs speak volumes of his enormous talent. His way of batting is extremely well suited for the ODI format which makes him so consistent. He has scored 2328 runs in 47 ODIs so far at an excellent average of 58.20 and a strike rate of 101.74 with 6 hundreds and 13 fifties.

Aakash Chopra breaks silence on Shubman Gill's omission from T20 World Cup 2024 squad

Aakash Chopra further spoke about Gill's omission from the T20 World Cup 2024. Gill was unfortunately not a part of India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad while Yashasvi Jaiswal was selected as the third opener in the squad after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

The former India opener feels that Shubman Gill should play all the formats although he didn't play the T20 World Cup. He cited the example of the 2011 ODI World Cup where Rohit Sharma did not get a chance but later went on to become a great player.

"Shubman Gill has that future superstar thing. He is doing good as well. You shouldn’t have taken him in T20s (T20 World Cup 2024). The team that was picked was fine. It’s okay. Sometimes, we tend to get too obsessed with that. Now he is a player. So, he should play in all three formats. There is no legitimate rule that he should play. He may make it,” Chopra noted

“In IPL, he does it very well. He made 900 runs in a year. Had a great season with Gujarat. So, I mean, he is very young. He will figure it out. But if he doesn’t go, it’s okay. Rohit Sharma didn’t play in the 2011 World Cup. It’s fine. But now India’s most successful captain,” the former India batter added.

Shubman Gill will be in action in India's upcoming Test series against Bangladesh beginning on September 19 in Chennai. It will be a two-match Test series between India and Bangladesh.