India vs New Zealand 2019: Shubman Gill Was Nervous on Debut But he Has a Future With India - Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian National Cricket team skipper Sunil Gavaskar has backed youngster Shubman Gill saying that he has a bright future for India despite failing in his debut against New Zealand at Hamilton. New Zealand, however, pulled one back after losing the first three games beating the visitors by eight wickets.

Meanwhile, Gill came into the team in place of Virat Kohli, who is currently on a break from international cricket. Moreover, he replaced then suspended KL Rahul to get his maiden national call-up. The batsman from Punjab grabbed eyeballs during his 2018 ICC U19 World Cup when he became the highest run-scorer. Since then, he has been in fine touch in List A cricket scoring tons of runs for his state side.

However, Shubman Gill didn’t have a great debut like he would have wanted. He got out to a fiery Trent Boult, who single-handedly demolished the Indian batting order. But during his short stay at the crease, Gill showed hints that he belongs to this place. The right-handed batsman played some good looking shots on challenging conditions which aided swing.

Gill is tailor-made for international cricket

Gill’s brief stay at the crease was enough for Sunil Gavaskar to understand that he belongs to this place. Despite admitting that he was nervous initially, Gavaskar pointed that Shubman Gill was getting in the line of the ball. In addition to, he also urged the selectors to be patient with him and nurture the talent in him.

“Well, for whatever little time he was there, he was a little bit tense, nervous. That’s understandable because he is playing for the country for the first time,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“Even then, when Boult was swinging the ball, he was able to get in line, yes… he was hit by the short ball as well. I think this guy’s got a future, you have got to be patient with him,” he added.

Moreover, Sunil Gavaskar stated that MS Dhoni is likely to slot back in place of Dinesh Karthik in the next game. Also, he believes that the management will give Gill another opportunity in the last ODI to prove his worth.

“My feeling is that they’ll probably have Dhoni coming in place of Karthik. Other changes will be based on the conditions in Wellington. I don’t see too many changes though. I am sure Shubman Gill will get another opportunity,” Gavaskar said.