Former Indian opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar has praised his fellow countryman Shubman Gill, backing him to become an outstanding player in the future. Shubman Gill has had a promising career so far after making his Test debut last year against Australia at the MCG. Following his innings in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand as an opener, Sunil Gavaskar believes Gill has the temperament to become a great player.
Shubman Gill played a promising knock of 28 in swinging and overcast conditions and built a partnership of 62 with Rohit Sharma. The openers lasted more than 20 overs against the likes of Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, and Colin de Grandhome. After Kyle Jamieson struck first blood to dismiss Rohit Sharma, Gill perished soon after in Neil Wagner’s third ball of his opening spell.
Neil Wagner delivered the ball just outside off-stump and Shubman Gill responded by playing a defensive push. However, the ball did not swing as much as he expected and thereby, took an outside edge through to the keeper, BJ Watling. Nevertheless, his 64-ball stay invited plenty of praises as he played some authoritative shots.
He just needs to get his first hundred and then a lot more will follow: Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar believes Shubman Gill has the temperament to become a great player. The 71-year old also revealed that scoring the first century in Tests is the hardest as reaching three figures from that 50-run mark is challenging. Gavaskar stated that batsmen usually feel settled at the 70-80 run mark and lose their wicket by taking on the bowlers. Hence, he feels Gill needs to reach his first hundred and many more will follow.
“He has the temperament to become a great player. The first hundred is always the toughest one because that journey from scoring a half century to reaching three figures is not that easy. Batsmen tend to feel settled somewhere around 70-80 run mark and start taking the bowlers on and lose their wicket in that way. He just needs to get his first hundred and then a lot more will follow,” Gavaskar told in the commentary box.
Also Read: Devon Conway Donates His Debut Test Gloves To MCC Museum
