Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar shared his surprise that Indian captain Shubman Gill looked shaky during his short stay against England on the fourth day of the Lord’s Test. Gill was dismissed after scoring only six runs in the second essay.
The right-hander was beaten four times in nine balls he faced, which is the most he has been troubled in the ongoing series. Gill is in red-hot form in the series but Manjrekar reckons the altercation, which happened on the third day’s play between Indian captain and England openers, played a part in his dismissal.
Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo, “He was beaten four times (in his nine-ball stay) and he hadn’t been beaten that many times in the whole series. I am sure that at least at this stage of his career, despite a short sample size, what happened on the evening of Day 3 has to be the reason why he looked so tentative in this final session.”
“Because with the form and ability he has, his entire body language and just missing balls had a lot to do with the kind of climate and the vibe he got from the fielders around him.”
Meanwhile, Washington Sundar returned with impressive figures of 4-22 in the second innings as the off-spinner accounted for Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith and Shoaib Bashir. Manjrekar noted that Gill backs his spinners as the last resort and he could have introduced the spin duo a tad earlier than he eventually did.
“He is a new captain and a young captain who has done brilliantly so far in this series. But, Shubman Gill must make a note of this – that he has got two spinners and these aren’t part-timers. He is not too keen to go to the spinners and gets pre-occupied with the seamers. He finally went to Washingston Sundar almost like a last resort,” said Manjrekar (via the aforementioned source).
India ended the day’s play at 58-4 and would need another 135 runs to win on the final day.
