Ganguly believes Shubman Gill deserves a chance vs NZ: Former Indian captain was wax lyrical about the teenage batsman.
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Having won the first three ODIs in the ongoing series against New Zealand, India have gained an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. For an overseas team to achieve such a score in New Zealand is surely a rare case.
Not that India weren’t expected to do well across the Tasman sea, they weren’t expected to emerge out as the winners after only the sixth day. While the Indian team has played a dominating brand of cricket, it is also about the hosts being highly competitive across division during this series.
Speaking during the post-match press conference, India captain Virat Kohli admitted that he will go to the vacations in a ‘relaxed mood’ for the team has already won the series. Kohli also hoped that the visitors would win the last two matches as well.
Are you looking forward to Shubman Gill’s international debut? https://t.co/77IftfYee6 #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/GEDdpu3IHI
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) January 28, 2019
Solid squad. I’d still go for Rahul over Rayudu as back up opener.. Waiting to see how Shubman Gill goes. If he fires straight away I’d pick him over Rayudu, Karthik & Rahul! Kuldeep + Chahal in the XI, always. Also wish Krunal Pandya gets a go to challenge Jadeja for his spot..
— Raunak Kapoor (@RaunakRK) January 21, 2019
Super training session ✌🏻️ #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/6Ymle5GLSu
— Shubman Gill (@RealShubmanGill) January 29, 2019
Throwing accolades on India’s young cricketers and the bench strength, the 30-year old cricketer was confident his potential replacement bringing in more energy into the team.
“I think there are some outstanding talents. We saw Prithvi Shaw grab the opportunity with both hands. Shubman is a very exciting talent and I saw him bat in the nets and I was like wow I was not even ten percent of that when I was 19.
“So, that’s the confidence that they carry and it’s great for Indian cricket, the standard keeps going up and the guys coming in can make those impact performances straightaway. And, we are more than happy to give them chances and provide them the space to grow,” Kohli was quoted as saying.
This is not even an experiment.Shreyas Iyer has been making runs day in and out since a year.I don’t even understand why has Shubman gill got a chance above shreyas iyer
— Pramesh Maikar (@psm_0938) January 26, 2019
Why so much talk about this Shubman Gill? #NZvIND
— Ahmed Ali Malik 🇵🇰 (@ahmedalitweets) January 28, 2019
India is struggling to find a proper No.4 batsman for quite a while now. Given that Kohli is not playing and India has already clinched the series why not
‘Experiment, Train and Execute’ Shubman Gill at No.4 from now itself considering his age and talent? @bhogleharsha #INDvNZ— Yash (@Yash_0912) January 29, 2019
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly shared a similar opinion of playing Gill in the series. Ganguly said that the decision might give India another ‘good player’ for the World Cup. If not that, the team management will at least come to know about Gill’s progress in the last year or so.
“I think they should play Shubman Gill. He certainly deserves a chance in the team. He should play the rest of the series. Who knows, India might get another good player for the World Cup. Virat Kohli has also said that he didn’t bat like Gill when he was his age, which is a great thing to say for a captain,” Ganguly told India Today.
