NEWS
Follow UsFormer India captain Sunil Gavaskar wants Shubman Gill to control his aggression if he wants to ace Test cricket. The 24-year-old has featured in 19 Tests so far and averages just 31.06.
While Gill did extremely well in white-ball cricket in 2023, the right-hander could only manage 258 runs in six Tests @ 28.67. His 128 against Australia in Ahmedabad was the only time he crossed the 30-run mark in Test cricket in 2023.
Even in the opening Test against South Africa in Centurion, Gill only got scores of 2 and 26. "I think he is playing a bit too aggressively in Test cricket," Gavaskar told Star Sports.
"There is a slight difference when you play Test cricket when compared to T20I and ODI cricket. The difference is in the ball.
"The red ball moves a little more than the white ball in the air and off the pitch as well. It bounces a little more too. He should keep that in mind."
However, his numbers in white-ball cricket were amazing. No other batter scored more runs than Gill (1584 @ 63.36) in ODIs in 2023. Even in T20s, Gill slammed 1202 runs in 30 innings at an average of 44.52 and a strike rate of 154.3.
"Shubman Gill started off his career so well and we praised his shots. We can only hope that he gets back into his form. Hope he trains harder and does well in the future,” said Gavaskar.
Meanwhile, former England skipper Nasser Hussain believes Gill is going to be the “next sensation for India for years to come.”
"He (Gill) had a very good three quarters, or nine tenths of 2023. You must have learned so much having the likes of Rohit Sharma at the other end," Hussain was quoted as saying by the ICC.
"He just fell away maybe at the end. Maybe that illness, you know, just got to him a little bit, and he's formed just in a month. We take it far too short when we're in the broadcasting world.
"He's a super talent, and he's going to be the next sensation for India for years to come. So, hopefully, he'll have a good 2024.”
