Last Update on: August 13th, 2023 at 02:37 pm
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra said that young opener Shubman Gill made the most of the flat batting conditions in the fourth T20I against the West Indies. Aakash Chopra highlighted that he expected Shubman Gill to score big after seeing the pitch for the match.
Shubman Gill registered scores of 3 runs, 7 runs, and 6 runs in the three T20Is of the five-match series. However, the team management backed him for the penultimate match. The batter scored 77 runs off 47 balls in the Men in Blue’s 9-wicket victory in Florida on Saturday, August 12.
It Was A Slightly Ahmedabad-Like Feel – Aakash Chopra
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra lauded Shubman Gill‘s batting performance, emphasizing the importance of capitalizing on favourable conditions.
“We reached Florida and got an absolutely flat pitch and in such a case – ‘Gill hai ki manta nahin’, you get a feeling like that when you see Gill on such pitches. It was a slightly Ahmedabad-like feel. Once I saw the pitch, I said Gill will hit and he did that,” Chopra said.
“You might think what is the big deal in scoring runs on a flat pitch. There is a small caveat in that. Assume it is a green-top pitch and if you get James Anderson and any other bowler to bowl on such a pitch, James Anderson will ensure that he picks up a five-wicket haul.”
Shubman Gill added a 165-run partnership for the first wicket with Yashasvi Jaiswal (84* off 51). Yashasvi and Tilak Varma successfully chased down the target of 179 runs with 18 balls to spare.
Shubman Gill Also Has That Trait – Aakash Chopra
Chopra highlighted that Shubman Gill will excel when conditions favour his strengths, similar to players like Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli.
“Whenever you will give a turning pitch to Anil Kumble, he will pick up a 10-wicket haul and win you the match.
Give Ravichandran Ashwin a pitch to his liking, he will just run through the opposition. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli score a lot of runs when the pitch is to their liking. Shubman Gill also has that trait.”
Shubman Gill Started slowly – Aakash Chopra
“He started slowly, wasn’t too aggressive. Then he saw an over from Odean Smith, realized he is a bowler to his liking, and ran after him. Then he was farming the strike. Important runs because the truth is that the stats were not looking very good.”
Shubman Gill represented India in 10 matches in the shorter format of the game. He scored 295 runs with an average of 32.78 and a strike rate of 148.99. However, he crossed the 50-run mark only twice in his brief career.