IND vs SA: Shubman Gill Named India's Best Performer & Breakout Star In 2023 By Sunil Gavaskar, Irfan Pathan

It was a blast year for the young Indian batsman Shubman Gill as he is the leading run scorer of the year. Gill has scored 2154 runs from 48 matches in the year 2023 which includes a total of seven hundreds and ten half-centuries. Gill has been brilliant in the white ball format, whereas, he is yet to prove himself in the red ball format.

Former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan picked Shubman Gill as the best performer of the Indian team in the year 2023. Gill was also picked as the breakout star of the year by both the cricket legends.

Picking up his breakout star, Gavaskar believed that Gill was exceptional in the white ball format, whereas he was not able to match the standards in the red ball cricket.

Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan pick their top Indian performer and break out star of the year

Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports, “It will be for how he batted in all formats in international cricket. He was unstoppable at the start but tapered off towards the end in Tests, although his performances in ODIs and T20Is were exceptional.”

Shubman Gill will be leading Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2024 after the departure of Hardik Pandya. Gill will be leading for the first time in his cricketing career former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan feels that Shubman Gill is the ‘future of Indian cricket’ and also a candidate to become the next Indian captain.

Irfan Pathan said, “The year he had, especially in one-day cricket…for a young player, who is probably the future of Indian cricket, and he has a future in leadership. He was on a century spree this year, his average has been exceptional, and ODI cricket seems to be the perfect format for him.”

Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan were also asked to name the best performer of the year 2023. Shubman Gill was also named as the top performer of the Indian team in the year 2023 by both the Indian cricket legends along with a few other players.

Sunil Gavaskar said, “There are plenty of contenders. Gill himself, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, for the way he bowled in the Asia Cup final, the comeback of Jasprit Bumrah and the absolutely incredible batting from Virat Kohli in the World Cup where he scored three centuries and five fifties.”

Mohammed Shami was the leading wicket-taker in the 2023 ODI World Cup whereas, Mohammed Siraj has been exceptional with the ball for the Indian team in the year 2023.

Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan added the names of Mohammed Shami and KL Rahul to the list but picked Shubman Gill as his top performer due to his magnificent batting performance in the year 2023. Rahul slammed a ton on his international cricket return and also played some key knocks during the 2023 ODI World Cup.

“Gill’s name has to be there. Then there is KL Rahul, who averaged over 70 in ODIs this year after returning from injury and also picked up wicketkeeping duties across formats. Not to forget, that century in Centurion from Rahul, which will be remembered for ages. Third is Shami, who was bowling first-change and the sort of comeback he made”, Irfan Pathan said.

Shubman Gill is known to be one of the best players in the current Indian side and has been scoring runs throughout 2023. Gill has scored seven hundreds in the year 2023, which is just one less than Indian batsman Virat Kohli.

However, Shubman Gill has not been able to carry the same momentum in the Test format and scored his maiden hundred in the format in December last year. Gill made his Test debut during the IND vs AUS Test series in 2021 and since then has got starts in Test cricket but has not been able to convert them into big scores.

Shubman Gill was the leading run scorer in the Indian Premier League 2023 and scored 890 runs from 16 matches. Gill also scored two hundreds in the whole season and rained a lot of runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Shubman Gill was also expected to score big runs during the 2023 ODI World Cup but failed to do so. Gill scored 354 runs from nine matches which is much less than his ability. Gill’s highest score of 92 and scored runs at an average of 44.25.

Shubman Gill also scored 28 runs in the first Test match of the IND vs SA Test series and will want to score big in the second match starting from January 3.

Shubman Gill will be featuring in the Test series against England at home after the South Africa Tests and will want to go big against the Ben Stokes-led side.