Kris Srikkanth, former India opener, has called young batter Shubman Gill as an ‘overrated cricketer’ after his poor performance in the recently concluded BGT 2024-25 series. India lost the series 1-3 and as a result, lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as well.
During the just concluded series against Australia, he scored 13, 20, 1, 28, and 31. Not only did Gill struggle, but so did top batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Kris Srikkanth, an outspoken Indian cricket legend and 1986 World Cup winner, attacked Gill, calling him 'an overrated cricketer'. He also said that if Gill was being persisted with despite poor numbers, why not give the same chances to Suryakumar Yadav.
“I’ve always maintained that Shubman Gill is an overrated cricketer but nobody listened to me. He is a highly overrated cricketer. When Gill is getting this much of a long rope, some people might wonder whether even players like Suryakumar Yadav could have been given a longer rope in Tests,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
“Suryakumar didn’t have a very good start in Tests but he has the technique and he has the ability. But the selectors and the management have now boxed him into a white-ball specialist. So that means you have to look at fresh talent,” he added.
Other than Suryakumar, Srikkanth suggested two other Indian batters for selection in the Test team.
“Ruturaj Gaikwad, for example, has been doing wonderfully in first-class cricket. But they’ve not bothered to pick him. Meanwhile someone like a Sai Sudharsan has been lighting it up in ‘A’ tours. You have to promote these kinds of talents. Instead, they are running around circles by picking Gill,” he said.
“Gill is right now surviving because he gets ten chances and scores on the tenth chance after nine failures. And because of that, he is getting another ten chances to succeed. Anyone and everyone can amass runs on Indian wickets, The challenge is scoring away from home in SENA countries and that’s where players like KL Rahul pass the test,” he added.
Gill missed the first Test due to injury, which India won. He played the next 2 Tests and was then dropped for poor form in the fourth fixture, before returning for last Test in place of Rohit Sharma.
