Overview:
The sudden change in his performance was thoroughly analysed by former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar and ex-England batter Jonathan Trott.
Since the announcement of the squad for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Shubman Gill has been the centre of attention. Stepping in as India’s Test captain in place of Rohit Sharma, he has been hogging the limelight. He quickly proved his worth, scoring two centuries and a double hundred in the first two Tests against England. However, the third Test at Lord’s posed a challenge for him both as a batter and as captain. He managed just 16 and 6, and was involved in a heated exchange with England’s Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett on Day 3.
Gill’s struggle with form continued into the first innings of the fourth Test, which started on Wednesday. Despite being the leading run-scorer in the series so far, he could only add 12 runs to his tally before being dismissed by Ben Stokes, leaving India at 140-3.
The sudden change in his performance was thoroughly analysed by former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar and ex-England batter Jonathan Trott.
“Shubman Gill’s recent dismissals show he’s become hesitant ever since that incident on Day 3,” Manjrekar said on JioHotstar.
“I’ll tell you, he played an attacking shot earlier, but this was a good delivery that came back in. However, I’m looking at someone who scored a lot of runs in the first couple of matches. I don’t want to link this dismissal to the incident on Day 3, but suddenly, Shubman Gill isn’t making the runs anymore. It’s a bit of a reality check,” he added.
“It’s not a long period of failure, but he’s getting out to defensive shots. There’s a sense of hesitation. Something shifted on Day 3. He’s a superstar in India, goes to England, and had the world at his feet, but now everything seems to have changed.”
Former England cricketer Jonathan Trott remarked that Gill has become the ‘villain’ of the series.
“Out of nowhere, he has shifted from being a batter to being labeled a villain, as seen on Day 3. The focus moved from his batting to how he was captaining the team. The reception he received today is definitely linked to the way he conducted himself,” Trott said.
“The first two Tests were all about Shubman Gill as a batter, but since then, he has made himself a target. You’re facing a strong team and must deal with hostility. Now, we need to see how long it takes for Gill to recover from this.”