Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra showered immense praise on Shubman Gill, who slammed a brilliant century in the fifth Test against England, underway at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. Gill, who had been struggling to find form in red-ball cricket, breached the triple-figure mark on Day 2 of the ongoing Test. The youngster, pairing up with captain Rohit Sharma, took time to understand the surface before showcasing some classy drives. He completed his hundred by smashing a boundary off English spinner Shoaib Bashir.
Shubman Gill registered 110 runs off 150 balls before becoming James Anderson’s 699th prey in the longest format. His knock consisted of as many as 12 fours and 5 sixes. During an interaction on Colors Cineplex, Aakash Chopra was asked to share his view on Gill’s centurion knock in the Dharmshala Test.
The cricket-turned-pundit felt Shubman Gill possesses all the qualities to become one of the greatest of this generation. “I am convinced that Shubman Gill has the DNA of greatness because of the way he bats. A lot of things are important while batting. Scoring runs is one thing but the other thing is to get an understanding of how to score runs,” Chopra was as quoted as saying.
Shubman Gill failed to produce anything significant in the first two matches of the England series. He first hit form in the second innings of the Rajkot Test, scoring a composed 91 off 151 deliveries. Gill notched a half-century in the following game in Ranchi. He is now the second-highest run-scorer in the series, following his teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal. In his nine innings so far, Gill has aggregated 452 runs at an average of over 55.
Referring to his roaring comeback, Aakash Chopra said, “Everyone has to score runs to reach here or else you wouldn’t have reached here, it’s very simple. However, at times it takes a lifetime to understand when, how, and against whom you have the most chances of scoring runs.”
Apart from Gill, Rohit Sharma also recorded a hundred-plus score on Day 2 of the Dharamsala Test. The duo stitched a 171-run stand, which helped India put up a mammoth score in the first innings. The hosts were finally bundled out for 477 runs early on Day 3.
