Shubman Gill Is Going To Be The One Of The Best Test Openers In The Next Decade: Brad Hogg

Former Australian leg-spinner Brad Hogg has heaped high praise on young Indian opener, Shubman Gill, claiming that the 21-year-old has the potential to become one of the best openers in Test cricket in the next ten years.

Shubman Gill had a fairytale debut series in Australia where he turned heads with his skills, mental fortitude, and temperament.

Having made his Test debut during the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Shubman Gill racked up as many as 259 runs across six innings at an average of 51.80 with two half-centuries.

More than the runs that young Gill scored, it was the manner in which accumulated those runs, that has left a lasting impression on the likes of Brad Hogg. Whether it was backfoot punch or cover-drive or on-drive or the hook shot, especially during his match-winning knock of 91 in the second innings of the Gabba Test, Shubman Gill displayed his full range across the three Tests.

“He (Shubman Gill) has got all the shots in the book. The thing that impressed me here in Australia was that when the Australians tested him with the short ball, he was prepared to take on the hook shot. He is going to be a little bit of a legend and he is going to be one of the best openers that the world sees over the next ten years in Test cricket,” Brad Hogg said on his official Youtube channel.

There’s only one way to keep a team happy, keep winning ? pic.twitter.com/ImkkoGvH4M

— Shubman Gill (@ShubmanGill) January 19, 2021

That said, Brad Hogg also went on to point a chink in Shubman Gill’s technique. According to the two-time World  Cup-winner, the Indian opener stays leg-side to the ball and punches it to the off-side.

In the process, sometimes he fails to cover the line of the ball, eventually ending up playing away from the body. The former cricketer reckoned that if the bowler gets an extra bounce from the surface, then the ball could induce an edge off his bat and bring the slip cordon into the play.

“There is only one little chink in the armour that he has got to work on, that is getting back and across and covering the off-stump when the ball is moving away and has got a little bit of an extra bounce. He tends to play away from his body. Of he continues to play away from his body, he is going to come up short and he is going to feed those slips and he is going to find a little bit of trouble. If he can’t get back and across, he has to learn to leave the ball early outside off-stump.” he added.

Also Read: I Couldn’t Sleep And Had To Take A Sleeping Pill: Shubman Gill Opens Up About His Test Debut