Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik heaped praise on newly appointed vice-captain Shubman Gill ahead of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka. Dinesh Karthik stated that Shubman Gill has the potential to do well as a captain of the Indian cricket team in the future, considering his batting abilities.
Shubman Gill failed to make it into the India squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, where the Men in Blue secured the title. However, the opening batter was named captain of the young Indian side for the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. Gill successfully led the national team to a 4-1 victory in Zimbabwe.
The selectors and head coach Gautam Gambhir picked Shubman as captain in both white-ball formats for the Sri Lanka tour. He was preferred over Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, and Ruturaj Gaikwad in the shorter format. He is also vice-captain in the ODI format in place of Hardik Pandya, who was rested from the series.
Shubman Gill Knows How To Handle Pressure – Dinesh Karthik
Speaking on Cricbuzz’s “Hey CB with DK,” Dinesh Karthik said that Shubman Gill can handle pressure in international cricket. Karthik stated that Gill will excel as a captain in the future if he can keep working on his batting and improve a lot more as a captain over the years.
“He’s been around in international cricket for some time, and he knows how to handle pressure. So why not? He is a vice-captain, and I believe he has the potential; if he keeps working on his batting and the fact that he can improve a lot more as a captain over the years, he has the potential to do well as a skipper as well,” Karthik said.
The cricketer-turned-commentator said that Shubman Gill needs to improve both on and off the field after a disappointing season as captain with Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
“This year, he started for Gujarat (Titans), and he was not bad, but he knows that it’s a little bit of work to put in on and off the field, and he’ll be working towards that. The one thing about Shubman Gill is that he’s a really hardworking kid, and that is going to stand them in good stead for the future,” Karthik added.
Shubman Gill was named captain of the Gujarat Titans for the IPL 2024 season. However, the opener couldn’t guide the team to the playoffs. GT finished in eighth place in the ten-team points table, with five wins from 14 matches. Gill scored 426 runs in 12 games at a decent average of 38.73 with a strike rate of 147.40.
The three-match T20I series between India and Sri Lanka will begin on July 27 in Pallekele. It has also been reported that Gill is expected to be named vice-captain for India in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh next month. The BCCI is reportedly considering him as a potential skipper for all three formats.
Also read: Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav are very aggressive: Pragyan Ojha’s strong take ahead of Sri Lanka T20Is
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