Former Indian wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel lavished praise on Shubman Gill after India secured a 48-run win against Australia in the fourth T20I at Gold Coast on Thursday. India posted a competitive total of 167 runs and Patel reckons the visitors might have scored only 130 if Gill had not scored 46 runs off 39 balls.

Gill scored his runs at a strike rate of 117.95 but Patel slammed the Indian opener’s critics and highlighted that it was not an easy pitch to bat on. Australia in response, were bundled out for only 119 runs and India registered a comprehensive win.

Patel said Gill’s strike rate could have been questioned if he had been playing in Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

“If this match had been played at the Wankhede Stadium, or in Ahmedabad, or at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, then you would have focused on the strike rate, that he scored only 46 runs in nearly 40 balls,” Patel said on Star Sports.

“However, the pitch on which they were playing, you needed a batter like that, who bats till the 14th or 15th over, or else the 167-run score would have been around 130. The winning margin was 48 runs. It shows how difficult it was, and it’s not like it was a 220-run match. The margin was 48 runs in a 160-run match, and the other team got all out in that. That means the pitch wasn’t that easy,” he added.

Patel said Gill played accordingly to the pitch and did play his shots in the Powerplay overs.

“Shubman Gill managed himself extremely well based on the pitch. He understood the kind of pitch it was and what kind of batting would be required. It’s not like he didn’t play shots. He played shots at the start,” he said.

“However, as soon as the first six overs had passed, he made his innings long. So, whoever is sitting and trolling, if they understand the conditions a little, today’s (Thursday’s) innings showed how the conditions need to be respected,” Parthiv observed.

The fifth and final T20I of the series between Australia and India will be played at the Gabba, Brisbane, on Saturday.