Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar said Shubman Gill’s decision to bat slowly went against him in India’s first innings against England at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Gill scored 23 runs off 66 deliveries, hitting two boundaries before being dismissed by debutant spinner Tom Hartley at the start of Day 2. The hosts ended the second day with a healthy lead of 175 runs on the back of a half-century from KL Rahul (86). , Yashasvi Jaiswal (80) and Ravindra Jadeja (81*).
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo after Day 2, Manjrekar said Gill’s decision to bat slower than normal went against him. Gill scored at 34.84, which was among the slowest for Team India in the first Test.
“Shubman Gill’s decision to bat slower than necessary went against him. You have to look at how he got out. When he played the shot, you got the impression that he was trying to break the shackles a bit and was trying to hit over the infield. To Shubman It was a bit of a grind for Gilla,” said Manjrekar.
The former India batsman said Gill needs to work on his backhand game and insisted the 24-year-old was trying to defend with a very solid bat. Gill has struggled for form of late, last scoring a half-century in the ODI World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in November 2023.
“We’ve talked a lot about the back-foot game when turning the pitch against the spinners, and if you look at Gill’s back-foot game, you’ll see there’s almost none. He’s just trying to defend with a pretty tight bat instead of trying to. That’s something that I’m sure Gill will start working on. There’s no better person than Rahul Dravid to be there with him to encourage him to play more off the back foot,” added Manjrekar.
Image Source: The Statesman
