Shubman Gill failed to come good for India at Lord's scoring 16 and 6 runs.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has compared Shubman Gill’s tentative batting in the second innings of the recent Lord’s Test against England, while comparing his temperament with that of ultra-aggressive Virat Kohli.
Shubman Gill, who had over 600 runs in the ongoing Test series against England, failed in the second innings as India fell 22 runs short of the 193-run target against England at Lord’s in the third Test.
Several former cricketers have stated that Shubman Gill, who became India’s Test captain after Rohit Sharma’s retirement, lacked the aggression and the attitude when India couldn't bowl England out on Day 5 at Headingley. England chased down 371 runs with ease, losing only 5 wickets.
Sanjay Manjrekar, a former cricket player for India, cautioned Shubman Gill against developing a brand around a persona that doesn't naturally fit him.
"If somebody wants to build a brand by saying, we are Indians, we are not less than anyone. That (The thought process) gets a lot of attention and mileage. I hope Shubman Gill wasn't doing it for that,” Manjrekar said on JioHotStar.
Virat Kohli enjoyed picking fights with the opposition because it brought out the best in him, Manjrekar continued. If Kohli had stepped out to bat at that point, he thought he would have hammered a century at Lord's in the second innings. Instead, Gill appeared quite shy and awkward while he was in the center.
"What Virat Kohli did was second nature to him. His cricket and batting used to get enhanced by that. Shubman Gill, I'm not sure whether this (aggression) comes naturally to him. If Virat Kohli had come out to bat, he would have looked into the face of those people and gotten a hundred. But if you looked at Shubman Gill's body language, the man who has almost batted like Bradman, was so tentative. The way he batted in those 9 balls seemed like he had gotten a pair. That is a clear message to me that aggression may not be his natural demeanor or approach," he added.
Here is the video: