Former New Zealand cricketer turned broadcaster Simon Doull had made heads turn when he said in 2018 that Shubman Gill will have a longer career playing for India than Prithvi Shaw. Cut to now, and Doull's prediction has come true so far, as Gill top-scored with a composed 90 in India's first innings score of 263 and taking a 28-run lead in the ongoing third Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Shaw and Gill were captain and vice-captain when India won the 2018 U19 World Cup in New Zealand. Later that year, Shaw made a hundred on Test debut against West Indies in Rajkot, while Gill took time to enter the Test cricket arena, but has now firmly established himself across all formats for India.
"When you think about a young man with the ability to change things in the middle of a series, that's what's quite impressive. And I first saw Shubman in the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand and there was so much chat around Prithvi Shaw at that stage.'
“I made quite a bold statement that Shubman Gill's career would way, way surpass what Prithvi Shaw does because there was some technical flaws in Prithvi Shaw and Shubman just didn't look like he had technical flaws at that stage," said Doull to broadcasters JioCinema.
Though he missed his century by ten runs, Gill has gone past the 800-run mark in Tests in 2024. On the other hand, Shaw was left out of Mumbai's squad for the ongoing Ranji Trophy due to form and fitness issues.
"And so I've followed his career all the way since that time. And the impressive thing about him for me is that he's able to change things, he's able to take in information and process that and has the ability to make those subtle changes. Because I think he just wants to score runs.”
“When I interviewed him he was like I want big runs. I want big hundreds and that's the hunger of the man. I think he wants them at Test level as well. Yes, the white-ball stuff means a lot to him, but he wants runs here. He wants big runs at this level, and that can only bode well."
"When you think about Jaiswal Gill and Pant, they are the future of the batting of this side and he's got a huge role to play in years to come. So to make little improvements in between Test matches, absolute class," concluded Doull.