With knocks of 64, 43, 98* and 82*, Shubman Gill has given a huge boost to his stocks and his reputation for a consistent place in India’s ODI team. In the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the young batter has done a phenomenal job for Team India.
In fact, former India cricketer-turned-pundit, Aakash Chopra, is so impressed with Gill that he feels the right-hander is ready to be given the No. 3 spot in India’s ODI team.
The No. 3 spot in the Indian ODI team is presently occupied by Virat Kohli. Shreyas Iyer is another batter who has done well at this position whenever given the opportunity. As for the future, Iyer seems to be ahead in the pecking order in comparison to Gill but the latter’s form is on a different level at the moment.
“Rohit Sharma will open with Shikhar Dhawan as soon as he is back. As of now, KL Rahul is not opening; if he wants, he can also open. Virat Kohli comes at No. 3, but Shreyas Iyer is also giving an audition for No. 3. I feel even Shubman Gill is absolutely ready for No. 3,” Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“Shubman Gill is a phenomenal story; they say your future can be seen when you are an infant; it was seen in under-19 and then in the Melbourne debut. Then also there was the thinking that he is not the opener you are looking for in Test cricket, but he will bat in the top three in white ball cricket,” he added.
Chopra is confident that it wouldn’t take long for Gill to dislodge the current first-choice players in the Indian team if he continues his superlative form and the seniors’ struggle.
“He did amazingly well for the Gujarat Titans as an opener; here also he is getting a chance as an opener and is not letting go of his opportunities. I think he is going to start building more pressure on the rest, that if all of them continue scoring runs, he will remain out, but if they open the door even slightly, he will come in,” Chopra opined.
In 7 ODIs so far, Gill has aggregated a total of 336 runs at a stunning average of 67.20. In his last 4 outings, he has 287 runs to his name.
