Shubman Gill has failed to justify his selection in the playing XI in Test cricket. In the first game between India and England in Hyderabad, he returned with scores of 23 and 0 as the Rohit Sharma-led team lost the match by 28 runs.
Gill has had a string of low scores at the No.3 batting slot and hasn’t scored a single fifty. Zaheer Khan said the batter will be under scanner in the second Test in Vizag.
However, former England captain Kevin Pietersen has supported the young player and asked the critics to not write him off. Speaking on JioCinema, KP said that Gill’s Test average of 29.52 doesn’t look good, but the batter was given the new batting slot after considering his potential.
“His average is not good, and his recent numbers aren’t impressive either. You don’t want to check them out. But there is a reason why he has been sent to the No. 3 position. It is because of his talent and skills. I am not bothered about his two dismissals against England. I am more interested in how he comes back into the second and third Test matches,” Kevin Pietersen said.
KP was critical of Gill for his batting in the first innings and said that Shubman’s inability to change the strike was putting him in trouble.
Pietersen changed his stance and urged the fans not to roast the batter.
“I don’t think you can get rid of someone after one Test match. He will play in the second Test, and let’s wait till that game. He has all the talent in the world to score runs. I want to see his batting in the upcoming game,” he added.
Pietersen gave his own example and said that England didn’t start the 2012-13 series well in India but went on to win it.
‘Let’s see how Shubman Gill performs. He is allowed to fail in a game. When we came to India in 2012, the whole team failed to perform in a game. We came back and won the series. Don’t write him off because of numbers after one Test,” he concluded.