Shubman Gill Belongs To International Cricket: Glenn McGrath

Former Australia pacer, Glenn McGrath is impressed by India’s debutant opener, Shubman Gill. McGrath made his view aired on Saturday after the youngster remained unbeaten on 28 at the end of the opening day of the Boxing Day Test.

India led by the stand-in captain, Ajinkya Rahane was asked to bowl first by Tim Paine. The Indian bowlers made full use of the seam movement and the turn available from the pitch to dismiss the Aussies for a total of 195.

In reply, the visitors had a poor start as Mitchell Starc got rid of the opener Mayank Agarwal in the very first over of India’s innings. The scars of Adelaide returned to haunt the fans, however, Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara survived the last phase of the day.

Shubman Gill has a solid technique: Glenn McGrath

Speaking to the broadcaster, Glenn McGrath revealed that he observed Shubman Gill’s solid technique during his 33-run innings in the third ODI against Australia in Canberra a few weeks ago. The former speedster feels that Gill has the technique which is good enough to be successful at the international level.

“When I saw him the other day in the ODI, I thought he had a good technique, he looked like he belonged to international cricket,” Glenn McGrath told Sony Sports Network.

The 50-year-old opines that Gill faced a very tough challenge on his Test debut- the 21-year-old was up against the pace of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood. McGrath pointed out that Gill was fortunate to remain unbeaten; there were plenty of plays and misses, and Marnus Labuschagne dropped a catch at the third slip. The World Cup-winning bowler believes that despite those hiccups, Gill remained composed and batted out the final session.

The Punjab-born batsman was India’s mainstay in the victorious Under-19 World Cup. He averages a terrific 68 in first-class cricket and is coming off a brilliant IPL 2020, where Gill was the leading run-scorer for Kolkata Knight Riders.

“It was a pretty tough introduction to Test cricket there with the way Starc and Cummins were bowling, they (the batsmen) were playing and missing, there was that one edge that Labuschagne put down, but apart from that he looked pretty solid,” Glenn McGrath added.

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