Shubman Gill is going to feel much more at ease after Vizag ton: Zaheer Khan

Speaking on ‘Match Centre Live’ on JioCinema and Sports18, Zaheer Khan, former India cricketer talked about Shubman Gill’s century against England on Sunday, saying: “He’s a dedicated student of the game and loves putting in the effort which is required to be successful at this level. I think this hundred is going to go a long way in his career because these lows teach you a lot. They also teach you the value of runs. He had asked for a change in his batting position and needed to deliver there. He’s going to feel much more at ease now. So, he’s got a lot to achieve and with time we’ll see him adding to the list of records.”

Owais Shah, former England cricketer too spoke of Gill’s knock, saying: “Shubman Gill made the most of the opportunity. The way he built his innings, playing with a straight bat at the beginning, punishing the bowlers every time they made a mistake, and the kind of pressure he created was really impressive. Even when he was about to reach his century, he showed a certain calmness and played with ease."

Zaheer Khan analyzed the prevailing match situation, saying: “The day belonged to India, and they are comfortably placed. But there is that outside chance of someone playing a blinder of an innings – which we saw in the previous game. And it’s only because of that we are talking like this. England was 190 runs behind but they still managed to crawl back in the game thanks to Ollie Pope’s performance.

So just giving that much of a leeway to England – 400 is still a big ask and it’s not going to be easy for them. The spinners are going to dominate tomorrow. If they get Bumrah’s help, it will be even easier for them to squeeze the English batters. But it’s cricket and you can’t predict too much in advance. I think it’s going to be a good contest and England are still in the game with a chance, but India have an upper hand.”

Parthiv Patel, former India cricketer was disappointed by India’s overall batting performance in the second innings, saying: “There are no two ways about it. India will definitely be disappointed with the way they have batted. On a third-day pitch when nothing much is happening, you would want two-three players to stick around and hit centuries. Many batsmen got out attempting to play big shots, so they have to focus on that.”