Former England spinner Monty Panesar said Shubman Gill showed improvement in his batting technique after taking the captaincy onus on his shoulders. Panesar reckons Gill was almost lazy in his footwork before he was appointed as India’s Test captain.
Before the Test series against England, Gill was averaging 35 in the red-ball version and his average dropped to 25 while playing outside the Indian sub-continent. However, he was able to prove his mettle in English conditions, scoring 754 runs in five Test matches at an average of 75.40 and breaking multiple records in the series.
Ergo, Gill was able to lead from the front in the Anderson-Tendulkar series, which ended in 2-2.
“Shubman Gill rose to the challenge. I always thought that he was almost lazy in his footwork when he wasn’t the captain, and now, he’s phenomenal. And I think we’re going to hopefully see the best of them in the next couple of years,” Panesar said in an interview with the Hindustan Times.
The former England orthodox spinner said Gill’s next challenge will be to keep India’s home domination with spinners, despite Ravindra Jadeja at the fag end of his career.
“He’ll (Gill) grow into the role. I think his career Test will probably come, how he does in India, really. And, more than turning pictures, you know, does he have the spinners to do that without Ashwin and Jadeja? Washington Sundar will be there, and it will be about whether he can live up to the expectations of Ashwin. I think Kuldeep Yadav has to play. He has to bring him into the equation somehow,” he added.
Panesar said India can win Test matches without the services of gun-fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Interestingly, the two Test matches, which India won in England, didn’t feature Bumrah in the playing XI.
“The biggest factor, as for Shubman here, is that he can win Test matches without Jasprit Bumrah. That’s a massive acclaim. The best bowler in the world. He doesn’t need him. I think India can win Test matches without Jasprit Bumrah. I think that’s the biggest achievement from his captaincy,” Panesar stated.
India would look to continue the good run against the West Indies and South Africa in home Test matches.
