A Timely Advice For Off-Colour Shubman Gill From Ex-India Opener: "Adapt To..."
Shubman Gill was the highest run-scorer in IPL 2023 but failed to maintain the purple patch in World Test Championship final and in the West Indies.
Former India player Wasim Jaffer has advised young batter Shubman Gill to get used to the slow pitches like those in West Indies. Gill is struggling with his form in the tour to the Caribbean islands, having scored only one half-century in eight matches. The 23-year-old scored only 45 runs in the two-match Test series. He followed it with 126 runs in three three-match ODI series against the side. In the T20Is, Gill has registered scores of 3, 7 and 6, respectively.
"These West Indies surfaces are like that, you have to wait for it and can't just keep hitting on the rise which Shubman likes. But one thing he needs to understand that is he is not going to get conditions like Ahmedabad everywhere. So the better he gets used to the other surfaces and adapts to the surfaces, it's going to do him wonders," said Jaffer on ESPNcricinfo.
Gill was the highest run-scorer in IPL 2023 but failed to maintain his purple patch after that. He scored 31 runs across two innings in the World Test Championship final before touring to the West Indies.
Jaffer referred to the Ahmedabad pitch as Gill's T20 performance in the year 2023 has been extremely well on the surface of the Narendra Modi Stadium but he has struggled at other venues. While the right-handed batter has scored 698 runs at an average of 87.25 in T20s this year in Ahmedabad, he has managed to amass only 410 runs at an average of 27.33 at other venues.
Jaffer also feels that Gill has been a bit defensive in his approach
"Jaiswal will bat with aggressive intent and I feel Shubman Gill is being a bit too defensive. If he gets 2-3 good shots straightaway then that could make a huge difference," Jaffer further stated.
India Cricket Team
West Indies Cricket Team