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Over the past eight months, there is one man who has risen in stature in Indian and world cricket. This man, just a few years out of his teens, Shubman Gill, is playing like someone possessed. He has scored more runs in the last few months across formats than any other Indian batter.
His appetite for big runs is simply amazing. He has double hundreds in ODI cricket, hundreds in Indian Premier League (IPL), and a Test hundred as well.
People have been waxing eloquent about him being the next big thing and about how the baton has passed or is rather passing to Gill. The comparisons with Virat Kohli have begun or are in the process. Kohli had a tougher initiation into the game than Gill.
Kohli came in at a time when the big guns were still around. He played just ODI cricket for just a couple of years and then T20I cricket came slowly thereafter. The Test match game was a no-go till 2011 for Kohli as the big boys were still around.
In the case of Gill the rise has been much more swift because there is just so much international cricket happening now than before. There is a lot of white ball cricket happening in any case which accounts for nothing except more stats in your kitty. Gill has been able to make that switch swiftly because there has been a lot of A team cricket as well which has aided his growth.
Entry into Test match cricket was also dramatic with that historic series win in Australia in 2020-21. Gill had a role to play in that dramatic Brisbane Test win as well. But his other Test knocks have been far from enterprising.
He has not been tested thus far in challenging conditions except the Brisbane Test of 2021. He did play the World Test Championship (WTC) final in 2021 but that did not end well for him and for India.
It is therefore important to not go overboard with adjectives around Gill just yet. He is a star in the making, no doubt about it. He will captain India at least in Tests and ODIs soon. But to anoint him as the next big thing should be much more measured.
There will come a time when Gill will bring in crowds to the grounds just like he did this season. But he is not there just yet.
The big boy, Kohli, is still the prima donna of Indian and world cricket. So just hold your horses for now.
Gill’s big test will come during the upcoming WTC final, then the Test series in South Africa at the end of the year, and next year in Australia. There will be a few more engrossing Test encounters against England at home and West Indies away which will be an interesting battle for Gill.
Let us wait till the end of the year before jumping to praise Gill and his abilities.
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