IND vs SL: "It Was Playing On His Mind That He Won't Get Too Many Opportunities" - Aakash Chopra On Shubman Gill's Decent Knock

India have moved away from senior players and picked young players in the three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka, hoping for an aggressive brand of cricket in power play overs. However, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan failed to provide quick starts in the series. Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that Gill was cautious in the final T20I as he didn’t want to waste another chance following his two failures.

Shubman Gill made his T20I debut in the first T20I against Sri Lanka, scoring only 12 runs in his first two innings. Gill played a decent knock of 46 runs off 36 balls, where the Men in Blue posted a mammoth total of 228 runs and restricted the opposition team to 137 runs. The Hardik Pandya-led team registered a comprehensive 91-run win in the series decider and clinched the series 2-1.

Rahul Tripathi and Shubman Gill. Pic Credits: Twitter.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra praised Suryakumar Yadav for scoring a brilliant century and said that the knock helped Gill reach a good score.

“Shubman Gill – if you are going at a run a ball for 35-odd balls, when you have won the toss and chosen to bat and Hardik Pandya and other batters are yet to come, you feel you should hit a little. He did not do that. I think it was playing on his mind that he won’t get too many opportunities,” Aakash Chopra said.

“He had already frittered away two and needed to make the most of it. Therefore he took his time, missed his half-century, but played a decent knock. I feel wherever he reached was also because of Surya,” he added.

It Is A Slight Cause For Concern – Aakash Chopra

Ishan Kishan struggled against swing and seam and scored only three runs in the last two T20 games after scoring 37 runs off 29 balls in the first match. Chopra said the left-handed batsman was disappointed with the bat after playing a decent knock in the first game.

“Ishan Kishan got out at the start. It is a slight cause for concern because the first match was good but the second and third, it became a middling sort of series for him. It seemed it will be good but it was not that good.”

Also read: IND vs SL: “Any Youngster Playing First Class Cricket And Knocking On The Door For Internationals Should Adopt Suryakumar Yadav’s Approach And Play Fearless Cricket” – Danish Kaneria