Former Pakistan skipper Ramiz Raja has heaped praise on young India opener Shubman Gill, saying that the latter looks like the mini version of Rohit Sharma.
The India team management decided to give Gill a long run by dropping veteran Shikhar Dhawan from the ODI side. As it turned out, the 23-year-old repaid the faith by smashing 208 off 149 balls in the first ODI against New Zealand.
Shubman continued his brilliance with the willow in the second ODI as well. He stayed unbeaten on 40 as India chased down New Zealand’s paltry target of 109 with eight wickets in hand and 179 balls to spare.
“Shubman Gill looks like a mini-Rohit Sharma. He has extra time and looks good. He has enough potential. Aggression will also develop with time. He doesn’t need to change anything. He scored a double hundred recently,” said Ramiz while speaking on his Youtube channel.
The former PCB chairman also hailed Rohit Sharma, saying that the Indian captain is an amazing striker of hook and pull shots. Rohit scored 51 runs off 50 balls in the second ODI against New Zealand.
“Batting was easy for India because they have an outstanding batter like Rohit Sharma. He plays exceedingly well. He is an amazing striker of hook-and-pull shots, so a 108-run chase becomes easy,” he added.
According to Ramiz Raja, India’s front-foot batting is not up to the mark.
“What India batters need to do, top order in particular, is the fact that their front-foot batting is looking weak. It’s easy to hit from the back foot, but once the ball is tossed up, you rely on defense, then there is some error,” stated Raja.
After winning the toss in Raipur, Indian bowlers ran through the Kiwi batting line-up, bundling them out for a paltry 108 in 34.3 overs.
While Mohammad Shami returned with the remarkable bowling figures of 3 for 18 in his 6 overs, Hardik Pandya (2-16) and Washington Sundar (2-7) claimed two scalps each. The remaining three wickets were shared by Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur.
Lauding the Indian bowlers, Ramiz said: “India’s resurgence in ODI and Test cricket is on the basis of bowling because their batting is historically strong.”
