"He's The Next One...": England Legend's Sensational Prediction For Shubman Gill
Impressed by the youngster's knock, former England captain Alastair Cook heaped praises on the player.
India's star batter Shubman Gill finally got the monkey off his back by smashing a classy century against England on Day 3 of the ongoing second Test against England. It was his third Test ton, and first in his 12 innings since March 2023. Gill reached the hundred with a single off debutant spinner Shoaib Bashir, and raised his bat to a cheering Sunday crowd. He must be a relived man after the ton as his Test form was extremely poor of late.
Impressed by the youngster's knock, former England captain Alastair Cook heaped praises on the player. He also said that India want Gill to step into the shoes of batting great Virat Kohli.
"Gill played beautifully. He has serious talent... and there was probably quite a lot of pressure on his shoulders. At the World Cup [in India], all the billboards were of Kohli, but he's the next one they want to step into his shoes," said Cook on on TNT Sports as quoted by India Today.
"That's a big thing to have the pressure of a country the size of India on your shoulders. As a young talent, that's something that the likes of Tendulkar and Kohli have dealt with... and he now has to learn to deal with it," he added.
Gill had two lucky escapes on four, both close LBW calls and one successfully reviewed, but then batted fluently with his flicks and drives until his exit.
He attempted a reverse sweep and departed when England spinner Shoaib Bashir got him caught behind, a dismissal that was turned down by the umpire but replays showed the ball grazed the batsman's glove before wicketkeeper Ben Foakes took a sharp catch.
Gill scored 104 runs in 147 balls with the help of 11 fours and 2 sixes. He had a strike rate of 70.75.
"What we've seen today is just how talented he is, the shots he has, and we're definitely going to see him the rest of this series. He was out of form, hadn't scored many runs, and there's Rahul and Kohli to come back into the side, but he's made sure now that the selectors can't ignore him," said Cook.
(With AFP Inputs)
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team