Kris Srikkanth praises Shubman Gill's knock vs MI; reiterates youngster missed a WC berth

It was a day of atonement for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as they came under criticism a number of times in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) over their batting order in the tournament. Dinesh Karthik’s side made some adjustments against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Sunday and the result was massive. The two-time champions eventually arrested their slide this season and picked a much-waited win after a gap of three weeks.

The main architect of the KKR win was the sensation of the season Andre Russell who slammed 80 not out in 40 balls at No.3 and then picked up two crucial wickets for not many in four overs. The West Indian picked up his fourth man of the match award in IPL 12 as the KKR remained in the hunt for a playoff spot by winning the match by 34 runs. The side has now 10 points from 12 games with a fairly good net run rate and is required to win its final two matches, one of which is against the MI again.

However, another hero of the KKR win was Shubman Gill, one of the future stars of Indian cricket. Shubman, who hasn’t got to play much games up the order this season and scored only one fifty till Sunday, was sent to open with Chris Lynn. He made full use of the opportunity to belt 76 off just 45 balls with the help of six fours and four sixes to give a flying start to the KKR. Lynn was in form too (54 off 29 balls) and the duo put up 96 runs in less than 10 overs to lay the foundation of the KKR onslaught.

Srikkanth recalls Virat Kohli’s debut in WC in 2011

The 19-year-old, who made his IPL debut last year after a magnificent U-19 World Cup in New Zealand, though was eclipsed by the monstrous hitting by Russell and MI’s Hardik Pandya (91 off 34 balls), his show won many hearts. Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth was ecstatic with Shubman’s knock saying he was “very, very impressed” with the youngster’s innings.

In a tweet, the former opener said he thought Shubman had the talent to become a great cricketer and also reiterated one of his earlier tweets saying the Punjab batsman had missed a berth in India’s WC squad. The reason for him thinking so was Virat Kohli who had made a magnificent debut in the World Cup in 2011 with a hundred (against Bangladesh). Srikkanth was India’s chief selector at that time. The former cricketer also said that he was in agreement with another former cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi on his thoughts on Shubman.

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