Australia vs India: Shubman Gill does a Steve Waugh; keeps red handkerchief in his pocket

After Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw failed to deliver at the top of the order, Shubman Gill got his chance in the second Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. And he hasn’t flattered to deceive by any stretch of the imagination. The youngster has grit and resilience, and an urge to score runs in challenging situations. Apart from his cricketing prowess, he also has an idiosyncrasy.

When he goes out to bat, he always prefers to keep a red handkerchief inside his pocket. Almost three years ago, the youngster was seen, doing the same when India U19 played the 2018 World Cup in New Zealand. It was before the match against Pakistan when Gill made the revelations.

Shubman Gill made the revelations earlier

Earlier he used to have a white handkerchief after which he changed to red. “I’ve had it from the beginning. I used to have a white one. But then in one game, a U-16 match, I changed it to red and scored runs, I scored a century. After that, I have had it for three-four years.” Shubman was quoted as saying after the semi-final match.

He was also spotted, having the hankie during the fourth and final Test against Australia and The Gabba in Brisbane. It’s reminiscent of the legendary Steve Waugh, the former Australian skipper, who also carried a red handkerchief in his pocket.

Here’s the video: –

Shubman Gill going with the Steve Waugh-style handkerchief #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/jkTed7vnH3

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 19, 2021

Before the final day’s play of the last Test, another legendary Aussie skipper pinned hopes of Gill, along with Rohit Sharma, to get India off to a good start in their run-chase.

“Rohit and Gill are every chance to get them off to a good start. If they do that I think they might use Rishabh Pant up the order again, as they did in Sydney because if it does get down to a run chase and India are behind the required run rate early on I can’t see how Pujara is going to be the guy to drag them back into the chase,” Ponting said.

“It’s going to be intriguing to me to see if they come out with the thought of trying to win the game,” Ponting added.

Though Rohit failed, getting out to Pat Cummins, Shubman went on to score a half-century in tough batting conditions.