Young Indian batter Shubman Gill has been struggling to get runs in the longest format of the game. His last big knock came against Australia last year, in the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy where he scored 128. Since then, he has accumulated 173 in 10 innings with the best score of 36 (against South Africa in Cape Town earlier this month).
His latest outing, in the ongoing Hyderabad Test against England, wasn’t impressive as well. He featured in a 43-run partnership for the second wicket with Yashasvi Jaiswal but could contribute just 23 off 66 before throwing away his wicket to debutant Tom Hartley.
Underlining Gill’s struggle in the red-ball format, former England captain Kevin Pietersen has urged India head coach Rahul Dravid to take the youngster under his wing. Speaking on Jio Cinema, Pietersen acknowledged Gill’s talent but also mentioned that the young batter from Punjab needs to work more on his game.
“Shubman Gill has somebody in the dressing room now who changed my game, Rahul Dravid. So, I would say to Rahul Dravid, and I don’t know how much of the broadcast he watches, please go and spend time with Gill and do the same stuff that he talked to me about. Go and get him hitting the ball through the offside. Practicing, picking links better, rotating strikes, doing things that will make him a better player because he has a quality player in Shubman Gill in his dressing room,” Pietersen said.
Pietersen further highlighted that Gill finds it difficult to rotate strike, especially against the spinners. The former England captain said the young batter can overcome this weakness if he works on it with Dravid.
“And I’m not disappointed in the way that he got out. I’m just disappointed in the fact that he hasn’t got that ability yet, but he’s still a kid. Give him that ability. Give him that structure, and play the attacking shots that he has got in his armoury. We’ve seen some of those beautiful innings, but if he rotates strike and he learns from Rahul Dravid, who needs to just take him under his wing and say, young man, this is how you do it, the world is his oyster,” he added.
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