Shubman Gill has long been regarded as a generational talent. Dubbed as the ‘Prince of Indian Cricket’, Gill was always touted to become the mainstay in the batting order. Now with Virat Kohli bowing out of the Test format, he’s also likely to replace him at number four. In ODIs, Gill is undroppable, and the new Indian Test captain showed his T20 prowess with an impeccable IPL 2025, where he scored 650 runs at 155.87 (SR).
What ails Shubman Gill?
Having said all this, just like almost every other batter, Gill has some flaws in his game as well. He might have the most elegant drive and short-arm jab in him, but Gill has to take care of his technicalities on English soil that offers lateral movement to bowlers. Former England opener Nick Knight has pointed out that the Gujarat Titans (GT) star needs to be wary of one thing: him not putting his front leg across too much.
“Well, when I’ve been out in India (for IPL commentary), I always highlight the same thing, really. Sometimes with Shubman, more so when you’re sort of a little lacking in confidence and striving for things a little bit for your form, sometimes that front leg just pushes across a little bit too much,” said Nick Knight while speaking to NDTV.
Knight further stated that putting your left leg across the body could hamper much more, especially against left-arm pacers who try to shape it back in. However, he also accepted that Gill has worked on the issue lately.
“Therefore, the rotation of the body and accessing the ball and playing around that front pad. But of late, I haven’t seen that quite so much, if I’m brutally honest. But it becomes more important when you’ve got a left-armer coming over the wicket and swinging it back into the pads. That’s something that he will probably always be aware of. That line outside off stump, again, will be the challenge for all these top-order players, particularly in England.“
Shubman Gill Test stats
| Category | Innings | Runs | HS | Average | SR | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 59 | 1893 | 128 | 35.05 | 59.92 | 5 |
| SENA | 21 | 514 | 91 | 25.70 | 59.55 | 0 |
As seen on the table above, Gill is yet to dominate in tough SENA conditions. His average (35) takes a massive drop of 10 runs per match, and the 25-year-old is yet to score a hundred as well. Apart from the habit of planting his left leg across, as Knight pointed out, Gill’s hard hands have also been his nemesis. More often than not, he tries to punch the ball in order to get boundaries and uses the same level of power to play a defensive shot.
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