Touted as India’s next batting superstar, Shubman Gill has lived up to the expectations of fans and experts this year, especially in white-ball cricket.
Gill was the Player-of-the-Series in India’s ODI assignments in West Indies and Zimbabwe. In 12 ODIs this year, the right-hander has amassed 638 runs at an average of 70.88 and a strike rate of 102.57 with one hundred and four half-centuries.
On Friday (December 16), Gill once again gave a glimpse of his special talent as he slammed his maiden Test century in the ongoing Chattogram Test against Bangladesh.
The 23-year-old scored 110 off 152 balls in India’s second innings, propelling the visitors to 258/2 (declared).
Impressed with his recent exploits, former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer has predicted that Shubman Gill can be the next Indian batting icon after Virat Kohli.
"Well, it's good that it came. He missed out on a couple of opportunities before but I am happy that the monkey is off his back. He's a class player. After Virat Kohli, he'll probably be the next big batsman that's gonna come out of the Indian camp. He's like a three-format player for me," Jaffer said in a discussion on ESPNCricinfo.
According to Jaffer, Gill can also play in the middle-order for India, especially when skipper Rohit Sharma returns to bat at the top.
"Shubman Gill has played in the middle order for his state team. He'll get used to it. As an opener, if you are slotted in the middle order, it's not a big deal because you're used to playing spin," he said.
Talking about his own performance, Gill said that notching up his maiden Test ton means a lot to him, having missed out on opportunities earlier.
"I personally thought it (maiden Test century) was long time coming for me. Today it was all about getting the difficult situation out of the way. There weren't any different thoughts (while batting in the 90s). For me, it was about how to play according to the field and then be able to score runs. It was very instinctive (to hit a couple of boundaries and get to the milestone). When the bowler came round the wicket, there was gap between third man and point.
"I hadn't played it the whole innings. And once the field came in, I went over the fielders. When lunch happened, I was batting around 13. When I'd faced 100 balls, I was 70-odd, it's about pacing the innings. You got to know when to attack as a batter. (The century) Means a lot to me, my family and my friends who have supported me. Special moment for any player - getting the maiden century here means a lot to m," he said.
Thanks to Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara's centuries, Team India are in the driver’s seat in the opening Test against Bangladesh, having set a fourth-innings target of 513 for the hosts.
