Former India batter Aakash Chopra has highlighted some technical faults in Shubman Gill’s batting technique which made him vulnerable at the top of the batting order. Shubman scored a sublime half-century on Day 1 of the opening Test match between India and New Zealand. He looked in exquisite touch in the first session but got dismissed soon after the Lunch break on 52 off 93 balls.
The 22-year-old was castled by Kyle Jamieson after lunch as he inner-edged the ball to his stumps through the gap between bat and pad while trying to defend.
Chopra said that Shubman doesn’t look like a Test opener to him due to his vulnerability to play in-swingers.
“Whenever I see him play, he doesn’t look like a Test opener to me. The way he plays inside the line, the outside edge and inside edge are both exposed," Chopra said on Star Sports.
However, the veteran opener further hailed Shubman’s ability to play the spin-bowling and said his true colour will be seen in the middle-order.
“But when he plays spin, he is tall and uses his feet well, uses the reach very well, his footwork is impeccable and his defense is also solid. The bat is always in front of the pad," the former Test player added.
“In my opinion, he is a middle-order batter, he has been made to open. He has done well as an opener but his true colour and form will be seen when he bats in the middle order."
Earlier, Gill made a fine comeback to Test cricket after a shin injury ruled him out of the series against England. Earlier, there were reports that he might bat in the middle-order in the New Zealand Tests but KL Rahul got ruled out of the series and Shubman got the opening spot.
Meanwhile, at stumps on Day 1, called early due to bad light, India are 258/4 in 84 overs with Iyer (75 not out off 136 balls) and Jadeja (50 not out off 100 balls) building an unbeaten 113-run stand after Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee reduced India to 145/4 in 49.2 overs.
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