Gujarat Titans’ (GT) Shubman Gill and Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) Yashasvi Jaiswal have taken the cricketing world by storm with their stunning exploits in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Both of them have done exceptionally well as an opener for their respective sides. While Gill is the second highest run-scorer in IPL 2023 with 576 runs from 13 innings at a strike of 146.19, Jaiswal is currently holding the third spot in the list of top run-getter with 575 runs from 13 outings at a strike rate of 166.18.
Gill and Jaiswal have smashed one hundred and four half-centuries each in the cash-rich tournament so far.
Impressed with their performances, former cricketer Robin Uthappa has hailed the duo as the future stars of Indian cricket.
"I definitely see potential in him (Gill) being as big as someone like Virat Kohli or Sachin Tendulkar. I certainly think he's got the stuff; he's a phenomenal player who is in exceptional form and is playing some great cricket at the moment. I certainly feel and believe personally that Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal are the two next big things of Indian cricket," said Uthappa in a select virtual media interaction.
With the T20 World Cup slated to be held next year, Gill and Jaiswal are strengthening their claims for the opening slots. Moreover, their rise has coincided with Rohit Sharma’s dip in form.
In IPL 2023, the Mumbai Indians skipper has scored 257 runs in 13 innings at an average of 19.77 and a strike-rate of 131.12, including one half-century.
Amid the calls for Rohit to take a break, Uthappa said: "I don't think there's much wrong with his form to be honest as when he's batting at the crease and playing, he's playing like the Rohit Sharma we all love. The approach or template, that he calls it himself and chose it, is not necessarily working for him. Although it is the template which he's chosen as captain of the Indian team, the uber-aggressive way of playing, I don't think it works for Rohit Sharma the batter."
"He's been more successful with the tried-and-tested formula - starts sedately and capitalises or makes up for the initial time at the back-end. If he comes back to that form of batting, we will see him performing like we know how Rohit Sharma performs."
"To be honest, he doesn't need a break and it's just a mindset shift in last few games - start sedately, not going after bowling in first over itself and then gone after the bowling post playing first few overs. You can see in that he's batting like the Rohit we all know," he added.
Asked if he sees any major changes in the composition of the Indian team post IPL 2023, Robin Uthappa said any shift in the set-up can happen after this year's ODI World Cup, slated to be held in India in October-November.
"From my experience of Indian cricket, they will continue to go with experienced players because making wholesale changes this close to an ICC tournament (ODI World Cup) will not be wise. Form is always temporary and having said that, post the World Cup, we may see a lot of wholesale changes moving forward. But before that, we won't see a lot of changes."
"Yes, there are a lot of injury concerns and would like for them to be addressed and people to be fit. We are missing (Jasprit) Bumrah and hope he will be fit for the World Cup. With KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant out, these are areas of concern. Form is one thing, and one should make sure we put out a fit team which can give us the best chance to win a World Cup, especially with one that's happening at home," he concluded.
(With IANS Inputs)
