Shubman Gill made 10 runs in 32 balls against Pakistan.
Gill, who had an amazing first half of 2023 in both international cricket and the IPL, has struggled since then. On the recent tour of West Indies, he failed to score substantially in the two Tests, and then in the 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is, he managed just one half-century each.
The right-hander was seen struggling against the pace and movement generated by Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf in Pallekele Stadium on September 2 and was finally bowled by Rauf for 10 runs.
Harbhajan said Gill needs a bit of rest because he has been playing a lot of cricket recently while defending the batter.
“I think this is because of too much cricket. He has been playing for quite a while now. He had a great IPL. Every player needs some rest because IPL is a very demanding tournament. You go to travel and also play every second day. I feel he just needs a bit of a break. He's a quality player and there's no doubt about that,” said Harbhajan to India Today.
He went on to say that there is nothing wrong with Gill’s technique, insisting that he will come good once his confidence is back up.
“He will come back to form and start scoring runs. I believe there's nothing wrong with his technique and the way he’s batting. But it's just that his confidence is a bit low and I'm sure if he gives himself a bit more time, he's going to come good,” Harbhajan added.
India captain Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer failed to fire against Pakistan, as Shaheen Afridi picked 4 wickets, while Naseem and Rauf picked three each. Only brilliant knocks from Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya rescued India from 66/4 and took them to 266.
India will now face Nepal on September 4, 2023, in Kandy, in a match they should win and qualify for the Super 4s stage.