During the 2018 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, two Indian rising stars – Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill – made headlines. While Shaw, the captain of the team, scored 261 runs at an average of 65.25, Gill ended as the second-highest run-getter of the tournament with 372 runs at an average of 124.
After India defeated Australia by eight wickets in the final under the tutelage of head coach Rahul Dravid, Simon Doull made a bold prediction, backing Gill to have a more successful career than Prithvi Shaw, who was the center of attraction.
Doull’s prediction so far has been right on the money as Gill is playing for India in all three formats whereas Shaw is struggling to get into the team. Gill scored a majestic knock of 90 runs in the first innings of the third Test match against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday and also added 96 runs with Rishabh Pant to help his team take a 28-run lead.
“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,” Doull shared to the broadcasters, JioCinema.
“I made quite a bold statement that Shubman Gill’s career would way, way surpass what Prithvi Shaw does because there were some technical flaws in Prithvi Shaw and Shubman just didn’t look like he had technical flaws at that stage,” he added.
Doull, who isn’t known to mince his words, recalled that Gill wanted to score big runs at the top level, especially in the red-ball format.
“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,” he shared.
“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.
New Zealand ended the second day’s play at 171-9, leading by 143 runs.
