This Is Something Shubman Gill Requires To Address - VVS Laxman Points Out Opener's Technical Issues
Published - 27 Jun 2021, 12:49 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:48 AM
Former India batsman VVS Laxman has observed a fallacy in Shubman Gill’s technique and reckons the young opener should rectify it before the 5-Test series against England, starting August 4 at Trent Bridge.
Shubman Gill scored 28 and 8 runs in the ICC WTC Final against New Zealand, which India lost by 8 wickets. The right-hander was beaten on both his edges – outside edge by Neil Wagner in the first innings caught by the wicketkeeper; in the second essay, Tim Southee had Shubman Gill plumb lbw beating him with an inswinger.
It the second mode of dismissal which the likes of VVS Laxman are more concerned about, as Shubman Gill’s head falls over outside the off-stump and is away from the line of the delivery, which makes him a likely candidate for lbw. Laxman reckons the 21-year-old should address this problem as soon as possible as England pacers will trouble him with swing and seam movement.
“This is something (Foot movement against incoming deliveries) Shubman Gill requires to address, especially keeping in mind the England series in which Stuart Broad and James Anderson will test the right-hander with the ball coming in,” VVS Laxman told Star Sports.
Shubman Gill isn’t an opener, he should bat in the middle-order: VVS Laxman
After a fantastic debut series in Australia, where he scored 91 in the fourth innings run-chase at the Gabba, Gill has tapered off a little bit. He scored a fifty in the first home Test against England, but his subsequent scores read: 0, 14, 11, 15*, 0, 28, and 8.
On that note, former India selector Gagan Khoda feels that the right-hander should be batting in the middle-order, and not be used as an opener. Khoda also points out that the likes of Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw were not given a longer rope and dropped after few failures in Australia.
“It was not meant to be like this. Shubman Gill isn’t an opener. He is like VVS Laxman, he should bat in the middle-order. India should have picked Mayank Agarwal, who had only two bad Test matches. Even Prithvi Shaw was shown the door after just one failure in Australia,” Khoda told Sportskeeda.
