Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik feels Shubman Gill has a major technical flaw in his batting. Commenting on Shubman’s woeful form away from home, Karthik said that Gill is confused about his approach to batting in India vs batting in overseas conditions. Since his heroic Gabba outing in 2021 where he scored 91 runs, Gill’s home and away batting form has been of stark contrast. While at home, Gill has scored 1177 runs in 31 innings, his away returns are significantly less – 424 runs from 20 innings.
Dinesh Karthik believes that Shubman Gill’s trigger of getting on the front foot and pushing at the ball hard has brought his downfall away from home and has resulted in the terrible average 22.31 – since the Gabba Test match in 2021. Speaking on Cricbuzz the former Royal Challengers Bangalore player said that Shubman has to find a way of balancing his methods when he plays in conditions like South Africa, Australia and England.
“I think Shubman Gill definitely has a slight technical error, which is pushing at the ball. When you play a lot of white ball cricket, you tend to do that. Travis Head does that as well, but what he has found is the method of doing that, and I think that players like Shubman Gill are caught in the trap of the way they bat in India and the way they bat outside,” Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
“Which is, the moment you see the ball released from the bowler, your mind tells you that this is a full ball you need to go at it. Batsmen who travel abroad to places like Australia, England and South Africa tune themselves in practice when they see a fuller ball like that, especially against a new ball – A) they play with slightly soft hands, or B) they try and focus on playing the ball as close to the body or leave. Shubman Gill is playing like he would play in India, where he sees the release, goes for the ball with hard hands. Now in Australia, sometimes, in places like the Gabba, playing off the front foot is a little difficult. So at the start of the innings, you have to tell yourself that, I have to leave,” Karthik pointed out Shubman Gill’s critical flaw in his batting.
Karthik concluded by stating that Shubmam Gill has been around for a very long time and it was not acceptable for him to get out while playing ordinary shots. Gill was dismissed trying to drive a ball on his front foot at the Gabba.
“For a No.3 batsman who has been around for so long, Shubman Gill has played a very, very ordinary shot, there are no mincing words here. And let’s be honest here, that the Indian batting, as a group, have not fired here for some time now, and with every passing innings, they are putting pressure on themselves,” Karthik concluded.
