Indian spinner R Sai Kishore has picked his Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill as the hardest batter he has bowled to, in his career so far. Kishore said he has been playing with and against Gill since the Under-16 days and the Punjab batter always used to breathe down his neck. 

Gill has a potent game against the spinners and he is known to make use of the depth of the crease. Kishore recalled that Gill always played him with aplomb in the domestic circuit and he had little idea on how to stop him.

Kishore said in an interview with Sportstar, “Shubman is a prodigy. I’ve known him since he was 16. The first time we played him in Under-19s, he scored 260 in Patiala. Later in the Ranji Trophy, he got 270. Honestly, it took me four years to figure him out. I even went back to my coach, Ram Kumar, and said: There’s this guy who’s just smashing me around — what can I do? I had to change my trajectory and work on new things purely because of Shubman. I’ve told him this story too.”

Meanwhile, Gill was able to lead from the front in the five-match Test series against England. Gill amassed 754 runs in the Anderson-Tendulkar series at a stunning average of 75.40, including four centuries. This was Gill’s maiden Test captaincy assignment for the country.

“He’s taken to captaincy like fish to water. Remember, he had never even captained Punjab because he was always with India. But when the Indian team needed a leader, Shubman stepped in. I’m very happy to see how naturally he’s adapted. Hopefully, in the coming years, he’ll grow into a proper leader,” said Sai Kishore (via the aforementioned source).

Gill has been ruled out of the upcoming Duleep Trophy and will be seen playing in the Asia Cup in the UAE.