Shubman Gill. (Source -IPL/BCCI)
Robin Uthappa spoke with the broadcasters after the match between Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings. The former IPL star praised Shubman Gill highly for his captaincy against PBKS. The young skipper helped GT to win their fourth match of the season. After Hardik Pandya left GT, Gill has led the side well so far and impressed many fans and experts. Uthappa is impressed by the captaincy of the youngster.
Speaking about Gill’s contribution to GT’s win over PBKS, Uthappa felt that the 24-year-old is a gift for Indian cricket. He added that the youngster has been maturing quickly at a young age. Robin felt that Gill has grown in stature as a leader so far. The former CSK player claimed that Gill might help his IPL side to glory and might be a candidate to lead Indian cricket.
“Yeah, I think he’s a gift for Indian cricket. I think he’s someone who’s maturing into an all-time great within the Indian cricket fraternity. And I think, we’ve seen him thrive, and we’re seeing him grow into a very prolific leader who is going to lead not just his IPL side, but I also think the Indian team in the near future,” said Robin as he spoke to the broadcasters.
‘He needed someone to play a little bit more aggressively at the end’ – Robin Uthappa
The 2-time IPL champion further touched upon Gill’s batting against PBKS. The GT opener scored 35 runs in 27 balls before perishing. Uthappa felt it was a great inning. The Karnataka player claimed that Gill framed his inning the right way as he wanted to bat through the innings. However, Uthappa claimed that someone from GT must bat aggressively at the other end to take pressure off the star batter.
“Great innings. I thought he went about his innings the right way because it’s important for him to bat through the course of the innings for GT to get success, so he approached it in that fashion. He needed someone to play a little bit more aggressively at the end and take off pressure from him so that he could play that,” added Uthappa as he called for aggression from the GT batters.
Uthappa said that Gill threw away his wicket in an attempt to up the ante. He claimed that there was no need for Gill to bat aggressively and added that it was the role of Sai Sudarshan. Uthappa acknowledged the fact that Sai isyoung and would come good in the days to come. The former Indian cricketer concluded saying that GT and Gill will be benefited when Sudarshan bats with intent.
“So, when he went to up the ante is when he got out. He didn’t need to do that. Sai Sudarshan could have done it. But you know, I think that Sai Sudarsan transition into upping his strike rate also will happen in due time. And when that happens, I think that combination will be great,” said Uthappa to the broadcasters.