Former India opener Gautam Gambhir believes Shubman Gill needs to improve his technique against incoming deliveries as he cannot afford to leave that much gap between bat and pad for the ball to go through. However, Gill managed only 10 runs off 32 deliveries in India’s Asia Cup 2023 Group A clash against Pakistan in Pallekele on Saturday, September 2 and they were bowled out for 266 after opting to bat first before the match was washed out due to rain without Babar Azam and Co. facing a single delivery.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir said: “It is a technical flaw but I believe he tried to play differently from his natural game because a lot of wickets had fallen from the other end. Rohit Sharma lost his wicket, then Virat Kohli lost his wicket and after that Shreyas Iyer also got out. So he was trying to build a partnership. It was a good ball as well but if you play while leaving such a big gap between bat and pad, a quality bowler will expose you. It’s extremely necessary for Shubman Gill to work on this.”

However, Shubman Gill adopted an ultra-cautious approach in Saturday’s game. He first scored on the 10th delivery he faced, hit a solitary boundary during his 32-ball stay as well, and was eventually bowled through the gate by the veteran Haris Rauf. And, Irfan Pathan also added that Shubman Gill’s tendency not to move his front foot will cost him again against pitched-up deliveries.

“That is why I have been repeatedly saying that he (Gill) is not covering the line with his front foot. When you don’t do that, if the fuller-length balls, which Haris Rauf bowled, move even a little after pitching, you will have difficulties. You have to either commit with your feet or through your head position. We didn’t see either of those things even when he was playing well and leaving deliveries. So that is a small thing that he can work on,” he concluded.