Team India got the better of Australia in the just-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home. The Rohit Sharma-led side won the four-match Test series 2-1.
While India won the first two Tests in Nagpur and Delhi, they suffered a defeat in the third game in Indore. The series-decider in Ahmedabad ended in a draw.
This result also helped India to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final, where they will take on the Aussies in a one-off match at The Oval in London from June 7 to 11.
Reflecting on India's performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, former cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar heaped praise on young opener Shubman Gill, who replaced KL Rahul in the playing XI after warming the bench in the first two Tests.
"He showed glimpses of it when he made his debut in Australia. It seemed that he is a capable player and can play Test cricket as well. We knew his fundamentals were good when we saw him in Under-19. Rahul Dravid was the coach then and was very happy with his basic abilities," Manjrekar said during a discussion on Star Sports.
Gill slammed a stunning century (128) on Day 3 of the fourth Test against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
"The things I liked - one thing I will talk about is the footwork. The front foot is now going further forward although the trigger movement is the back foot. This will help him a lot in Test cricket," Manjrekar observed.
Shubman Gill has been in exceptional form in 2023. The lanky right-hander has already hit five hundreds in the first three months of the year.
Manjrekar cited India opener Virender Sehwag’s example while talking about the ‘power game’ of Gill in the Australia series.
"The second thing we saw in Test cricket as well is the big game, the confidence with which he plays the lofted shots. When you see him, it seems he is a purist, a classical player to an extent, but the power game comes whenever he calls for it. In this match also he played a lofted shot in the nineties to go close to a hundred. He reached his (ODI) double hundred also with a six. This power game saves you in nervous moments as it did with Virender Sehwag. I didn't know about this but now it has come to the fore that this is another of his rare strengths," Manjrekar concluded.
