Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook said that Indian fans expect Shubman Gill to step into Virat Kohli’s shoes across formats soon. The former England opener added that the right-handed batter has serious talent and applauded his knock on Day 3 of the second Test against England in Vishakhapatnam. He smashed his third Test hundred after a prolonged lean patch as well.

Speaking on TNT Sports, Cook said: “Gill played beautifully. He has serious talent… and there was probably quite a lot of pressure on his shoulders. At the World Cup [in India], all the billboards were of Kohli, but he’s the next one they want to step into his shoes.”That’s a big thing to have the pressure of a country the size of India on your shoulders. As a young talent, that’s something that the likes of Tendulkar and Kohli have dealt with… and he now has to learn to deal with it.”

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Shubman Gill also faced criticism after registering two low scores in Hyderabad and failing to use a start in the first innings in Vizag as well. However, Gill could not convert his hundred into a double hundred as the reverse sweep off Bashir brought cost him his wicket. The veteran also believes Gill has made himself undroppable for the rest of the Tests of this series as well.

“What we’ve seen today is just how talented he is, the shots he has, and we’re definitely going to see him the rest of this series. He was out of form, hadn’t scored many runs, and there’s Rahul and Kohli to come back into the side, but he’s made sure now that the selectors can’t ignore him,” Alastair Cook concluded.