IPL 2018 | Dinesh Karthik claims that Shubman Gill will serve Indian team for many years
Dinesh Karthik has made heaps of praises for young Shubman Gill and has claimed that the 18-year old would serve the Indian cricket team for many years to come. Gill scored a well composed unbeaten 36-ball 57 against Chennai Super Kings on Thursday, to get his team over the line at the Eden Gardens.
Shubman Gill, who wasn’t able to find his form in the IPL 2018, scored his first fifty in the successful run chase against Chennai Super Kings on Thursday. Gill was promoted to number 4 by Karthik and the youngster didn’t disappoint and scored 57 runs off 36 balls, which included 2 sixes and 6 fours.
Gill had walked out to the middle when KKR were 40 for 2. He saw two wickets falling in front of him and as a result, KKR were reduced to 97 for 4, but he didn’t lose his nerves and played till the end. Karthik, who himself played a cameo of brilliant 18-ball 45, pointed out that Gill had shown promise in his previous innings. He regarded Gill as a ‘special’ talent and the marvelous knock compelled Karthik to predict that the youngster to go on to play for the Indian team for many many years to come.
“The number of times that he’s come out and been able to hit a first ball boundary, it’s a great skill to have,” said Karthik. “He’s done it so many times. I’ve said it so many times, that boy is special. I don’t want to hype it up so much that there’s pressure on him, but I genuinely see a lot of years of the India blues in him.”
After having dropped Dhoni in the first innings, which proved costly his team in the fag end of the innings, Gill felt relieved after the knock. The drop, however, worked in his favor as it motivated him to score runs for his team.
“Batting at No. 4 was a different experience for me, the runs I had made against Delhi had given me a good bit of confidence, like I’d remained unbeaten,” Gill told Karthik in a chat for the IPL’s official website.
“And then, having dropped MS Dhoni’s catch, I thought I will have to finish off the game now because if we lose the game, I’ll loose my teeth. I was feeling very embarrassed after that as to how I dropped it.”
Stressing the importance of adaptability in the game, Gill told Karthik, “You can play me anywhere. I think cricket nowadays is all about adaptability. How well you adapt to situations and positions, so wherever you play me I’ll try to give my best.”
Stephen Fleming was also high on praise for the youngster and said that his innings played an important role in KKR’s win.
“It’s exciting to watch, as Gill’s innings got on he got more composure and played well,” said Fleming after the game. “It was his first real opportunity, he’s been batting down the order. So he took that opportunity well today and was a big part of them winning the match.”
Apart from Gill and Karthik, Sunil Narine, who was adjudged Man of the Match, had an impact on the match. He took two wickets for just 20 runs and then, smashed 32 off 20 balls to give KKR run-chase a solid start. Complementing Narine, Karthik said he was a great man to have in the team.
“He’s a thorough allrounder. He provides us runs at the top, impetus at the top, which is great. And he bowls the pressure overs for us so he’s just a great person to have in the team,” said Karthik.
Narine insisted that he was a bowler first once and would stick to that, but was happy to contribute with the bat for the team.
“I’ll still stick to my bowling. I think it’s something that made me the cricketer I am today, but I’m enjoying that I can help the team with a little bit of runs and it’s nice to come out with a win,” said Narine.
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