Shubman Gill can't play spin, bluntly claims Sanjay Manjrekar

Former India National Cricket Team player Sanjay Manjrekar has heavily criticized the star batter Shubman Gill for not being able to play very well against the spin bowling.

Sanjay Manjrekar reckons that Shubman Gill lacks a 'feel for spinners' and comes under pressure while facing them, especially on the tracks that offer assistance to the spin bowlers.

Shubman Gill has underperformed in the ongoing home Test season

The 25-year-old Gill, who is looked at as the next big thing in Indian cricket, has clearly not lived up to the expectations in the ongoing home Test season.

Shubman Gill started off the series against Bangladesh with a duck in Chennai. However, he made up for it in the second innings, with a sensational knock of 119* runs.

As the action headed towards Kanpur, Shubman Gill failed miserably against the Tigers. He scored just 39 runs in the first innings before registering 6 runs in the second innings.

Then, he missed the Test series opener against New Zealand in Bengaluru due to a stiff neck but returned to the playing XI for the second Test in Pune.

India needed a big knock from Shubman Gill in the match to avoid the defeat, but the youngster couldn't step up and deliver. He bagged 39 and 23 runs in two innings as India faced a humiliating 113-run defeat in the Pune Test and lost the series as well.

Shubman Gill clearly does not have the feel for spinners" - Sanjay Manjrekar

Speaking on ESPN Cricinfo, Sanjay Manjrekar questioned Gill's ability to handle spin bowling and stated:

"When Yashasvi and Shubman were going together, I thought that there would be a surprise around the corner. Shubman Gill clearly does not have the feel for spinners. You know batters, who can work with their footwork instinctively, he clearly is under pressure when he is playing spinners on turning pitches."

Gill will be next seen in action in the third Test against New Zealand, which is set to be hosted by the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. After the New Zealand series, Shubman Gill will travel to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, which will be very crucial for him.

Rohit Sharma was not confident at the crease - Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar was also disappointed with the performance of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma again spin in Pune. He said:

"Virat Kohli once again misread the length. The ball was much fuller than he anticipated and came back into him sharply. Rohit Sharma was not confident at the crease."

According to Sanjay Manjrekar, top Indian batters are underconfident while facing spinners and had backed their defense in the second Test against New Zealand, the result could have been different. He elaborated:

"There are a lot of guys, top 3 out of 4 who are short of confidence against spin. On pitches like these, you see that it is difficult to bat vs spin in the first session and a half. I think that if India backed their defence a little more, things could have gotten easier. If India had not lost too many wickets earlier, this game could have been much closer with Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja being around."