Shubman Gill Could Become A Very Good International Player For A Long Time: Brendon McCullum

Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has heaped praises on Indian young opener Shubman Gill. Shubman Gill will play in his first ICC final when India and New Zealand lock horns in the World Test Championship decider, starting Friday and open the innings with Rohit Sharma. Brendon McCullum feels that Gill will play for India for a long time.

After a productive tour of Australia, Shubman Gill could not replicate the same run-scoring spree at home against England. The right-handed batsman managed only 119 runs in four Tests at 19.83 and notably struggled to counter James Anderson. Hence, Gill will undergo a litmus test in England, where New Zealand bowlers and Anderson are highly effective and could run through any batting line-up.

Brendon McCullum, who coaches Shubman Gill at the Kolkata Knight Riders, labelled the youngster as a high-quality player. The former keeper-batsman believes that Gill has a tremendous aura around him and believes that the right-handed batsman is a talent only a few players have.

“I’ve been bullish about Shubman Gill, he is already a very good cricketer. The hardest thing for Shubman is that, because he is such a talent, so many people want to help him. They want to be aligned with him and be part of the Shubman Gill story because everyone sees he is going to go down as one India’s greatest players. I can’t speak highly enough of him, I find him a player with a tremendous aura around him. He is not the finished product, but he has got a gift not many people have,” McCullum said as quoted by India Today.

Similar to how we spoke about Kane Williamson: Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum further said that Shubman Gill is similar to Kane Williamson, who was already earmarked as one of the greatest players produced by New Zealand. The 39-year old underlined that Gill might not become an all-time great; however, the Punjab batsman could play for India for a long time and is a good option at the top order at the WTC final.

“Similar to how we spoke about Kane Williamson. When he came on to the scene he was spoken about as being able to become one of New Zealand’s greatest if not the greatest by the end of his career. Shubman might not be able to scale those lofty heights because you have had some of the game’s greats like Sachin Tendulkar. But you’ve got someone there who could become a very good international player for a long period of time and gives you a good option at the top of the order in the WTC,” he added.

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