What Rohit Sharma Did In The 2019 World Cup, Shubman Gill Could Do The Same This Year: Suresh Raina

Team India’s fortunes in the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 will depend a lot on how Shubman Gill performs. The youngster is all set to play in the senior ODI World Cup for the first time in his career. Having already won the U19 World Cup, Shubman Gill will be eyeing a special campaign in his first senior World Cup.

He has forged a strong partnership with captain Rohit Sharma at the top of the batting order. And his performance is likely to play a key role in determining India’s fate in the World Cup. Shubman Gill recently starred with the bat in the Asia Cup and India ended up winning it. The right-handed batsman finished the tournament as the highest run-scorer, scoring 302 runs in 6 games at an average of more than 75.

And as Shubman Gill gears up for his maiden ODI World Cup, former India batsman Suresh Raina has said the youngster could replicate Rohit Sharma’s feat from the 2019 World Cup. Rohit Sharma had created history in the past edition of the ODI World Cup.

Suresh Raina on Shubman Gill:

While Team India had failed to win the World Cup in England, Rohit Sharma finished the competition as the leading run-scorer. He also smashed as many as five centuries in the competition which is most by any player in a single edition of the World Cup. The India skipper had scored an impressive 648 runs in the last World Cup. Suresh Raina also stated that Shubman Gill will be one of the most important players for India in the World Cup.

“He’ll be one of the most important players at the World Cup. I know that he wants to be a superstar and wants to be the next Virat Kohli and is in that aura already and after this World Cup, we will be talking about him more often.

“The form he’s playing in with his hand speed – it’s extremely strong. Spinners don’t know where to bowl to him and if fast bowlers don’t swing the ball, he can play those really well with a straight or a flick. His mindset will not stop here. What Rohit Sharma did in the 2019 World Cup; Gill could do the same for India this year. He’ll get 50 overs to bat, so it’s a takeoff point for his batting. I think he’s a born leader and he shows that in his game,” Suresh Raina said on JioCinema show ‘Home of the Blues: India Heroes’.

Shubman Gill has done really well in Indian conditions this year. At the start of the year, the youngster scored a century and a fifty in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. He followed it up with a double century and a century in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand. The right-hander also scored a T20I century against the Black Caps.

He then scored a Test century against Australia before finishing IPL 2023 as the highest run-scorer. Shubman Gill scored an impressive 890 runs in 17 games with the help of 3 centuries and 4 fifties. He struggled for runs outside Asia after the IPL but looked in sublime touch during the Asia Cup.