WTC final: Sanjay Manjrekar has a piece of advice for Shubman Gill to succeed against New Zealand pacers

Shubman Gill became an overnight sensation due to his blazing performances Down Under in India’s epic 2-1 series win earlier this year. The elegant right-hander’s brilliant 91 helped India chase a target of 328 to shock the Australian team and the cricketing world. Gill, in all likelihood, will partner Rohit Sharma at the top in the upcoming ICC World Test Championship Final (WTC) against New Zealand, which is all set to begin on June 18.

Former India opening batter Sanjay Manjrekar found few chinks with the 21-year-old’s technique stating that although he looked compact, he played the ball with hard hands against Australia in his debut series. He further stated that Gill faced a lot of problems when the bowlers were bowling outside the off-stump channel and his dismissals tend to be mostly while driving or playing the ball legside.

Although Gill doesn’t have any experience in the England conditions, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has backed him to come good sooner rather than later. Manjrekar, however, feels that the 21-year-old needs to work on playing balls outside the corridor of uncertainty.

Shubman Gill has to be careful while driving the ball: Sanjay Manjrekar

“When you look at that front foot of his you’ll see that it is an issue that started plaguing him. The front foot hasn’t gone down the pitch too much and those are hard hands. Towards the end of the series, it started bothering him and this is a typical dismissal of a guy who is a little confused. He knows there’s a problem area outside the off-stump,” Manjrekar said as reported by ESPNCricinfo.

The cricketer-turned-commentator further pointed that Gill should not drive the ball up especially with the likes of Boult and Southee who have the ability to swing the ball.

“He doesn’t get that front-foot outside the crease as much to the pitch of the ball and he has a tendency to drive on the up. Now, that’s one thing that haunts all Asian batsmen and Shubman Gill has to be careful doing that against people like Southee especially in England if the ball is going to come slow off the pitch,” he said.