WTC Final | Gill has temperament to be great batter, needs to get his first ton, reckons Sunil Gavaskar
Gill playing a powerful pull against NZ on day two of WTC Final
|ICC Twitter
Former Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar applauded Shubman Gill's temperament and predicted that the youngster will get many hundreds once he gets to his first century. Sanjay Bangar also lauded Gill's approach and said he alongside Rohit disturbed the lengths of the Kiwi bowlers in the first session.
Shubman Gill, on day two of the WTC Final, was visibly nervous initially into his innings. He almost got himself run-out in the second over of the day trying to take back the strike. However, in what was a mix of New Zealand's loose bowling and the youngster's proactiveness, Gill turned around his fortunes, and at one stage, was looking set for a big knock. The audacious pulls were out while his straight drives were turning out to be a thing of beauty.
But, just when it had started to look like that he had overcome a poor home series against England and an awful IPL, he played a false shot and got out on 28 but not before he had given India a decent start alongside Rohit Sharma. Speaking on the youngster, Indian great Sunil Gavaskar stated that Gill has the temperament to become a big player, but he needs to get his maiden century first and after that, he will be able to score many more hundreds for the country.
"He has the temperament to become a great player. He just needs to get his first hundred and then a lot more will follow" said Gavaskar in the commentary box, reported India Today.
"The first hundred is always the toughest one because that journey from scoring a half-century to reaching three figures is not that easy. Batsmen tend to feel settled somewhere around 70-80 run mark and start taking the bowlers on and lose their wicket in that way," he added.
Not only Gavaskar but former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar was also impressed with Shubman Gill. He pointed out how Gill was using his feet brilliantly and alongside Rohit Sharma batted well in the first session of today's play.
"At times, they were walking towards the bowlers, which was done by Shubman Gill regularly. Just to disturb the lengths of the New Zealand bowler. I felt that they succeeded in that because they disturbed the lengths, New Zealand had to try out different field placements at times, which normally they would not have done," Bangar said, reported HT.
With bad lights stopping play, India were 120 for 3 with Virat Kohli (35*) and Ajinkya Rahane (13*) set at the crease. Rohit Sharma (34) and Shubman Gill (28) failed to convert their starts but did add 62 for the first wicket. India's no.3 Cheteshwar Pujara failed to impress as he made 8 from 54 before getting trapped in front of the wicket by an in-swinger from Trent Boult.
