'We don't expect them to average like Tendulkars, Dravids' - Simon Doull on Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal

Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull opened up about the new-age Indian batters playing on challenging pitches. He said that young batters in Shubman Gill And Yashavi Jaiswal should try to get double hundreds.

India will be locking horns with England in the five-match Test series. The first game of the series will be played from 25th January and all the focus will be on the young Indian batters in Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who have great starts to their career.

Shubman Gill in particular started his career on high as he racked up solid half-centuries in Australia. But somehow after that, he hasn’t been able to carry on and has bagged a series of low scores. He moved to No.3 spot but too hasn’t worked in his favour as he has amassed just over 100 runs in 6 innings.

Yashasvi Jaiswal on the other hand, made an impressive start to his career and was one of the main reasons behind India winning Tests in West Indies. But in the recent South Africa tour, he had a horrible outing as he bagged low scores in all the games and failed drastically.

The main reason behind them not having consistent runs is the kind of pitches they have played on, both at home as well as overseas. The surfaces have been quite challenging for batters which hasn’t allowed the young players to settle and get runs as fluently as was the case earlier with the batters.

Simon Doull is aware of the fact that pitches have been challenging and urged them to get double tons. He highlighted how earlier-generation players used to score runs because of pitches not being tough.

Simon Doull further mentioned that with the kind of pitches that are today, no one expects young batters to average 55, 54, 53, like the Tendulkars, the Dravids, the Sehwags, and the Laxmans’. Speaking on the sidelines of the ILT20, he explained, as quoted by Hindustan Times:

“The only thing I would say is how do these modern Indian batters, The Shubman Gills and the (Yashasvi) Jaiswals, get Test match double hundreds? You look at the careers of the previous Indian batters and the careers of these new Indian players, and you’d feel,

‘We don’t expect them to average 55, 54, 53, like the Tendulkars, the Dravids, the Sehwags, and the Laxmans’. That’s because they are playing on surfaces that are more spin-friendly on Day 1.”

I don’t think it will work over a five-Test series – Simon Doull on Bazball

Simon Doull was further asked if Bazball would work in India or not. Replying to this, he stated that it might work in two games but not in the entire five-match Test series. He believes that England will bat with the same approach and it will be a cracking Test series. He added:

“I don’t like the term. But the way they play, I enjoy. They will not change the way they play, and neither should they. It has been attractive; it has been a resurgence of Test cricket. I don’t think they will stop the way they play. Will it work? It might in a Test or two.

I don’t think it will work over a five-Test series. (It’s not) good enough to beat an Indian side. I think we are in for a cracking Test series, and it will be entertaining no matter how it goes, but I don’t think they will be able to sustain it over a five-Test series.”

With one day remaining ahead of the first Test between India and England, the visitors have already shown signs of aggression. They have named their XI and have picked one fast bowler in the team.