Former Australian cricketer Shane Watson praised Shubman Gill’s technique and believes he will be able to adjust to all three forms quickly. Gill is the most recent Indian captain in Tests and ODIs, and he is also the current vice-captain in Twenty20 Internationals, where Suryakumar Yadav is the full-time skipper.
Watson mentioned how each player takes some time to adjust to new situations and settings. He described Gill as a ‘ridiculously talented batter’ and projected that he will soon be regarded as a completely capable batter in all formats.
“It does take time (to make adjustments), and it’s through trial-and-error that you really realise exactly what you need to do to make those adjustments, and playing in different conditions as well. Shubman is a ridiculously talented batter. He’s got an amazing technique. It’s not going to take him long at all to be able to really navigate his way through the different formats because when someone is as highly skilled as he is, it’s not going to take him too long,” stated Watson, as quoted by India Today.
Watson also acknowledged that switching formats, as Gill has been doing, is not an easy operation. However, he observed that additional game time for Gill will help him become much more comfortable in the future.
“It definitely is a challenge, and the more you do it, the better you get at really understanding the little adjustments that you have to make to your technique, to your game plan, your mindset around each format to be able to then get into the best version of you every time you have to make that adjustment.”
Shane Watson
After a brilliant five-match tour of England in which he scored 754 runs in ten innings, Gill’s journey has not been easy. Gill scored only 127 runs in seven matches during India’s title-winning Asia Cup campaign in the UAE.
When he came into the ODI series vs Australia, his scores read: 10, 9 and 24. Any eyebrow raised about him, though, won’t be because of the lack of talent but due to his inability to convert starts: In the second and third T20Is he followed up a large full toss (that was put down) with 5 and 15. The Men in Blue’s fourth and fifth T20Is would take place on November 6 and 8 respectively.
