Aakash Chopra, the former Indian cricketer, praised Shubman Gill for his batting in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series. Gill is slowly moving away from Virat Kohli comparisons. After Kohli’s retirement, Gill took over Kohli’s number 4 position in the Test team and Kohli’s captaincy. There were doubts about Gill’s ability to thrive in this position but he silenced the critics with his performance in the England tour.
In 10 innings, Gill scored 754 runs at an average of 75.4. This is equal to Sunil Gavaskar and Sir Don Bradman’s record of most centuries in a series in England. Chopra said in a recent YouTube video that Gill’s batting at number 4 was his statement of intent to create his own legacy.
Chopra quoted Gill as saying, When you start batting at a new number, especially one that belonged to Virat Kohli, people will draw comparisons. I want to move away from that and I want to write my own story,”
Chopra was impressed by Gill’s consistency throughout the series, a double century and a century that won the Edgbaston game.
Chopra said Gill’s batting was crucial to his captaincy. He said it would have been very difficult for Gill to captain if he wasn’t performing. Shubman Gill the batter needs to support Shubman Gill the captain. Captaincy becomes easier when the captain is scoring runs. He didn’t just want to score runs but create his own history and break records. I don’t think any captain has scored more than 750 runs in a Test series, Chopra said.
Read Also:- Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma Eye October Comeback After SL Series Cancelled
Chopra also compared Shubman Gill’s captaincy with Rohit Sharma’s. He said these comparisons are not fair as each captain faces different challenges. Captaincy is something he will have to improve but remember he is only 25. He will learn with time. This was his first series as captain. There were times when he seemed to be following the ball with his field placements but we’ve seen that with almost every captain, including Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli. They have all, at some point, placed fielders based on where the ball was going, Chopra said.Gill could have been more decisive in team selection, especially with Kuldeep Yadav but Chopra defended the young captain, it’s not easy to make those decisions.
2-2 series draw is a win for India in England and also a personal win for Shubman Gill. India is now gearing up for the next challenge, Asia Cup which starts on September 10. India’s first match will be against UAE at the Dubai International Stadium.
