Shubman Gill: Ex-Pakistan skipper has an advice for India batter — 'He has done injustice to his talent'

Shubman Gill, for all his talent, has not been able to cement his spot for India in T20I cricket. After a brisk start in the first match against Afghanistan, he had to make way for opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in the next fixture. With Kohli returning as India’s number three batter in the second T20I, Jaiswal replaced Gill as the opener.

Amidst scrutiny of Gill’s T20I form and position, former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt spoke about the challenges the right-hander has been facing. He also said that Gill has not lived up to his potential in recent times and asked him to exercise patience and avoid hasty shots.

“I think Shubman Gill has done an injustice to his talent in the last few games. He is too good a player and has too much skill for the kind of hurry that he has been showing. He scores 20-odd and then plays a loose shot,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.

Butt also advised Gill to play each ball on its merit and not go looking for expansive strokes each time. “He needs to realise that even if you are the best batter in the world, you can’t play every ball on your own terms. You have to react to the ball instead of dictating it,” the ex-Pakistan cricketer added.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has taken over the mantle as a T20I opener, has been impressive in his limited opportunities so far. He made a strong case for his selection with a match-winning performance against Afghanistan in the second T20I. The left-handed batsman was excellent in his knock of 68 runs off 34 balls, propelling India to a 2-0 lead over Afghanistan in the series.

Former India batter Aakash Chopra too has said that Yashasvi Jaiswal has surpassed Shubman Gill in India’s T20I lineup. Jaiswal has made a solid start to his India career and has become an opener in both Test and T20I formats. He has scored 316 runs in four Test matches with an average of 45.14. In the T20Is, he has scored 498 runs in 16 matches – with an average of 35.57 and a strike rate of 163.81.