India’s young batter Shubman Gill has impressed one and all with his exploits in the last couple of years, especially in white-ball cricket.

In fact, Gill finished was the leading run-getter in ODIs last year, scoring 1584 runs in 29 innings at an average of 63.36 with five hundreds and nine half-centuries. The right-hander also slammed a T20I century against New Zealand in 2023 and won the Orange Cap in the IPL.

While Shubman has failed to live up to the expectations in Test cricket so far, the 25-year-old has plenty of time in his hands to turn things around.

Recently, former India cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra picked Shubman Gill as one of the three top young talents.

Chopra highlighted Gill’s biggest quality as a cricketer and said, like Virat Kohli, he also understands the pulse of the game.

“The biggest quality of Shubman is that he understands the pulse of the game. Some players are very quick to understand. Some understand eventually. Some never understand. So, the greats you see, they understand very quickly. So, Virat Kohli understood the pulse of the game very quickly. Mahendra Singh Dhoni understood the pulse of batting in ODIs very quickly,” said Aakash while speaking on a YouTube podcast with Raj Shamani.

“Shubman Gill understands the pulse of the game. He understands 100% where the game is going. Where can I go? Where can I take it? How can it run according to me? He is absolutely brilliant. He is top-class about himself,” he added.

Shubman Gill’s absence from India’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad came as a shock to many, but Aakash Chopra reckons it was a right call made by the selectors as he also cited the example of Rohit Sharma failing to make the 2011 World Cup squad.

“Shubman Gill has that future superstar thing. He is doing good as well. You shouldn’t have taken him in T20s (World Cup). The team that was picked was fine. It’s okay. Sometimes, we tend to get too obsessed with that. Now he is a player. So, he should play in all three formats. There is no legitimate rule that he should play. He may make it.”

“IPL, he does it very well. He made 900 runs in a year. Had a great season with Gujarat. So, I mean, he is very young. He will figure it out. But if he doesn’t go, it’s okay. Rohit Sharma didn’t play in the 2011 World Cup. It’s fine. But now India’s most successful captain,” Chopra remarked.