Former Indian cricketer Anshuman Gaekwad has thrown his weight behind young opening batsman Shubman Gill has a temperament that it takes to succeed in international cricket and that the Indian think-tank need not panic despite him enduring a poor series against England.
After a stellar debut in Australia where Shubman Gill impinged himself as one of the best young cricketers of the current era courtesy 259 runs in three Tests including a career-best 91 against possibly the best attack in the world in their own backyard, the 21-year-old endured a lean-run in the four-match Test series against England on home soil.
After scoring 29 and 50 in the first Test, Gill managed a mere 43 runs across five innings which also included two ducks. However, Gaekwad believes that every young cricketer encounters such phases and that Shubman will once be back among the runs. He also went on to give the example of Mohammad Azharuddin, who endured a similar lean patch following a brilliant start to his career.
“No need to panic, because these things do happen. Shubman has a good temperament to play at this level and can take pressure as well, which is a great quality,” Anshuman Gaekwad told the Telegraph.
“Even (Mohammed) Azharuddin went through a similar kind of phase. When he came in, he got three hundreds in a row and thereafter there was a lull of around six to eight months. So this is what international cricket is all about,” he added.
“Once your weaknesses are detected, the harder it becomes for you. So the quicker you get over these problems, the better you’ll be in time to come,” Gaekwad added.
Gaekwad observed that Shubman wasn’t circumspect in his footwork against England as compared to the series in Australia and while that may be because of the uncertainty in the wickets, he needs to improve in that aspect.
“I found his footwork a little less this time than how it was in Australia. That could be because of the uncertainty in the wickets, but then, that is of utmost importance,” he said.
He also added that Shubman Gill should avoid playing away from the body as it is paramount for the openers to let the ball come towards them rather than them reaching towards the ball.
“Second, he shouldn’t play away from the body. He has been doing so of late and that’s where he got into trouble. For openers, on any wicket, it’s important to play late and close to the body let the ball come in and not reach towards the ball,” Gaekwad added.