Former India captain Anil Kumble has pointed out a major flaw in young batter Shubman Gill's technique after he got out for cheap in the ongoing 1st Test against England in Hyderabad. Resuming from his overnight score of 14, Gill was dismissed on 23 by England debutant Tom Hartley. Gill's attempt to swat Hartley ended in the hands of Ben Duckett at mid-wicket, giving the left-arm spinner his maiden Test wicket. While speaking during the lunch break on Day 2, Kumble feels Gill needs to learn how to rotate strikes, especially against the spinners.
Kumble gave the examples of Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahul Dravid, who played at no. 3 throughout their careers, urging Gill to play with soft hands against the spin.
"Un par dabaav badhta gaya aur vo strike rotate nahi kar paaye (The pressure kept on growing and he couldn't rotate strike. He will have to learn this. If he wants to bat at no. 3, especially on Indian tracks where spinners will cause trouble, he will have to rotate strikes. Even when he came out to bat yesterday, he took his time as you don't want to lose your wicket. He got stuck today as well. Wanted to play the release shot against the turn, which i don't think was the ideal shot. If he has to slot in that no. 3 role like Pujara or Dravid, he will have to rotate strike. He needs to play spin with soft hands and use his wrist. This is something he needs to add to his game," Kumble said on Sports 18.
Coming back to the match, KL Rahul's unruffled fifty formed the fulcrum as India reached 222 for three at lunch to close the gap, despite England spinners producing a better effort on Day 2.
Rahul (55 batting) and Shreyas Iyer (34 batting) are at the crease as India, resuming from their overnight 119 for one, now trail England by 24 runs. The visitors were bowled out for 246 in their first innings on Day 1.
Rahul was all imperious timing and he seemed to have imbibed a lot of confidence from that hundred against South Africa earlier this month at Centurion.