Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra heaped praise on Shubman Gill after the Indian skipper scored an impressive knock of 129 runs in the first innings of the second Test match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. Gill once again batted at the top of his game to deliver the goods for his team.
The right-hander scored 16 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten knock for the home team. India posted 518-5 (declared) after electing to bat first and Gill played a major role in setting up the tone.
Gill has been in magnificent form with the bat and he continued his rich form on Saturday. Chopra praised Gill for using his feet to get to the pitch of the ball.
Aakash Chopra said on Star Sports, “He was using his feet a little and going forward. There was no pace in the bowling. You are trying to generate that pace yourself. You are going towards the ball, using the momentum of your body a little. You wanted to show domination. These shots are never on against fast bowlers in Test cricket,” the former India opener responded.
Chopra added that Gill played with authority against the West Indies bowlers.
“You don’t play fast bowlers after stepping out in red-ball cricket. If you are doing that, it is a reflection of your clear mindset, that what you are trying to do is not conditions or situation dependent, it was just your thought process. He showed that he is the boss and is going to play like one,” he added.
On the other hand, former Indian wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel noted that Gill played with a more attacking approach.
“He maintained his concentration and focus. However, we saw a different kind of approach in his batting at the start. We saw a slightly more attacking Shubman Gill. He took his time a little last evening. He might have thought of scoring runs more quickly. There was a definite change in approach,” he said.
“Another thing that was seen was that he was trying to play the stump-line balls towards midwicket or even squarer today, which we had never seen in the entire England tour. It might have been a plan to play slightly across the line as big shots had to be played,” Patel observed.
West Indies were 217-8 on the third day’s morning.
