India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir criticized skipper Shubman Gill’s critics after the visitors managed a draw in the fourth Test match against England at Old Trafford. Gambhir said those who had doubts over Gill’s talent don’t understand cricket.

Gill didn’t had a great record while playing outside Asia as he was averaging 25. There were doubts raised on Gill’s appointment as India’s Test captain by many experts as he had failed to come up with consistent performances.

However, Gill has been able to let his bat do all the talking in the ongoing series against England. The Indian captain scored a gutsy knock of 103 runs off 238 balls to help the visitors draw the fourth game. This was Gill’s fourth century of the series and he has amassed 722 runs in four Test matches at an impressive average of 90.25.

Gautam Gambhir said in the press conference, “No one has had any doubt over Shubman Gill’s talent. Those who had doubts over Gill’s talent don’t understand cricket. Some players need time to blossom in international cricket. No one in the dressing room is surprised with what Shubman has done on this tour. Even if he had not performed so well, no one would have doubted his talent.

“Those who watch cricket and understand it know what kind of talent Shubman has. The important thing is that he is living up to his expectations, his talent. More importantly, I cannot see any burden of captaincy that we often talk about when he goes in to bat. When he goes into bat, he goes as a batsman, not as a captain,” the former India batter went on to add.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill is only the third batter to score 700-plus runs in a Test series for India. Earlier, Sunil Gavaskar and Yashasvi Jaiswal had 700+ runs series against the West Indies and England respectively.

The fifth and final Test match between England and India will be played at the Kennington Oval, London, from 31st July onwards.