Doull had suggested that Gill would have a longer playing career in the Indian team than Shaw.
On a pitch assisting spinners, the right-hander produced a crucial knock of 90, helping the hosts take a slender lead of 28 runs.
For his stunning batting display, Shubman received rich praise from the ex-New Zealand pacer Simon Doull.
The cricketer-turned-commentator recalled the comment he had made regarding Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw during the duo’s U-19 playing days.
Doull had made a bold prediction when he suggested that Gill would have a longer playing career in the Indian team than Shaw.
Both of them were part of the Indian U-19 side that won the World Cup in 2018 World Cup. Since then, Gill has built a reputation of India’s next batting star while Shaw has fell in the pecking order despite scoring a hundred on Test debut.
“When you think about a young man with the ability to change things in the middle of a series, that’s what’s quite impressive. And I first saw Shubman in the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand and there was so much chat around Prithvi Shaw at that stage," Doull said on JioCinema.
“I made quite a bold statement that Shubman Gill’s career would way, way surpass what Prithvi Shaw does because there were some technical flaws in Prithvi Shaw and Shubman just didn’t look like he had technical flaws at that stage," he added.
Simon Doull also reminisced an interview he had taken of a young Gill and noticed his appetite for big runs.
“When I interviewed him, he was like I want big runs. I want big hundreds and that’s the hunger of the man. I think he wants them at Test level as well. Yes, the white-ball stuff means a lot to him, but he wants runs here. He wants big runs at this level, and that can only bode well," Doull remarked.
“When you think about Jaiswal Gill and Pant, they are the future of the batting of this side and he’s got a huge role to play in years to come. So, to make little improvements in between Test matches, absolute class," he concluded.
Coming to the Mumbai Test, India took a handy first innings lead of 28 runs on Day 2, thanks to half-centuries from Shubman Gill (90) and Rishabh Pant (60).
In the second innings, the Kiwi batting line-up crumbled and went to the stumps with 171/9 on the board, leading India by 143 runs.
On Day 3, the hosts will look to take the remaining one wicket as quicky as possible and chase down the target to finish the already lost series on a high.
(With IANS Inputs)