He has the potential to do well as a skipper as well: Karthik on Gill
Karthik thinks the 24-year-old is a diligent player who has the potential to excel as a skipper provided he continues to hone his batting skills and gains significant experience.
Khan Mutasim Billah LifeEditor
Posted - 2024-07-27T15:58:04+06:00
Updated - 2024-07-27T15:58:04+06:00
Indian opening batter Shubman Gill, who was just named vice-captain for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, has received high accolades from former wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik. Karthik thinks the 24-year-old is a diligent player who has the potential to excel as a skipper provided he continues to hone his batting skills and gains significant experience.
Shubman Gill was left out of India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad, which went on to win the title. Despite this, the young Indian team's opening batter was selected as captain for the five-match T20 International series against Zimbabwe. The national team won 4-1 in Zimbabwe under Gill's leadership. For the Sri Lanka trip, Shubman was named captain for both white-ball forms by the selectors and head coach Gautam Gambhir. The shorter version gave him an advantage over Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Rishabh Pant. In one-day internationals, he takes over for Hardik Pandya as vice captain after the latter was benched for the series.
Former wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik responded to a question about Gill on the “Hey CB with DK” show on Cricbuzz by saying, “He’s been around in international cricket for some time, and he knows how to handle pressure. So why not? He is a vice captain, and I believe he has the potential; if he keeps working on his batting and the fact that he can improve a lot more as a captain over the years, he has the potential to do well as a skipper as well.”
After an underwhelming 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season as captain of Gujarat Titans (GT), the cricketer-turned-commentator criticized Shubman Gill, saying that the player needs to improve in all aspects of his game.
“This year, he started for Gujarat (Titans), and he was not bad, but he knows that it’s a little bit of work to put in on and off the field, and he’ll be working towards that. The one thing about Shubman Gill is that he’s a really hardworking kid, and that is going to stand them in good stead for the future,” he added.
On July 27th, in Pallekele, the first of three T20 International matches between Sri Lanka and India will commence. According to reports, Gill will likely be selected India's deputy captain for next month's Test series against Bangladesh, which consists of two matches. The right-handed batter, who the BCCI considers a player capable of playing in all three formats, would reportedly take Jasprit Bumrah's position as vice captain for India's upcoming Test series against Bangladesh next month.