In his last 12 Test innings, Shubman Gill has not amassed a half-century.
Former England cricketer Shubman Gill has come to the support of his countryman after the batsman failed to score a significant amount on Day 1 of the second Test against England on Friday, February 02 in Visakhapatnam. Notably, Gill was removed for 36 (bowled straight to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes) after chasing a wide delivery from James Anderson. In seven innings, he had already been dismissed five times against Anderson.
Pietersen, a former England cricketer, asked experts to give the 24-year-old some time despite his poor performance on Day 1, believing that the right-handed batter had significant skill. To illustrate his argument, he even gave the stats of the great South African cricketer Jacques Kallis, who after ten Test matches averaged 22 at the bat.
“Kallis emerged as possibly the finest player to ever play the game, averaging 22 in his first ten Test matches. Please give it some time to find it, @ShubmanGill. Pietersen noted in his X account, “He’s a serious player!”
Interestingly, Gill last scored a fifty-plus run in March 2023 against Australia in Ahmedabad, and he hasn’t struck a half-century in Test cricket in his last twelve innings. The hitter, who is from Punjab, made a spectacular debut in the Test series by amassing 259 runs at an average of 60.65 from six innings during the renowned Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020–21.
In addition, he helped India break Australia’s 32-year-long domination at the Gabba Test ground with a heroic 91 on Day 5. After his breakthrough series, he was unable to repeat the magic, accumulating only 838 runs at an average of 26.18 from 34 innings, including two hundreds and two fifties.
Gill is having trouble at number three.
From the West Indies tour in July 2023, the 24-year-old has been shifted to number 3, where he has struggled mightily to establish himself. At the batting position, he is averaging 22.30 with the bat. Jaiswal is on the verge of being axed from the team because Virat Kohli’s comeback is anticipated and Cheteshwar Pujara is racking up runs for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy 2024.
With the assistance of 17 fours and five sixes, Yashasvi Jaiswal was the only player for the side during the entire day as India concluded Day 1 with a score of 336/6. Gill had 34, making him the team’s top scorer after him.
