Former India player turned commentator Irfan Pathan has asked vice-captain Shubman Gill to follow Virat Kohli’s batting template in T20Is rather than pick the aggressive intent-based approach as well. Irfan Pathan also feels that a player like Shubman Gill is better suited to depend on timing and running between the wickets and switch gears gradually instead of hitting hard right from the beginning.

“I want to see Shubman Gill’s mental state in T20 cricket. It is important that Gill should not bat like how Abhishek Sharma and the other explosive batters are batting. He should bat according to the team situation, and demand, because he is that kind of a player. From all the years I have watched Virat Kohli play T20 cricket, Gill can also base his game like that and move forward,” Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel.

“See, there will be some big matches where Abhishek Sharma will try to go big and will be out early. So, there you need stability, and Shubman Gill can provide that. But, it is important that Shubman Gill is not confused. If he is confused, then it will be a big problem for him. He is not Abhishek Sharma, he is not Suryakumar Yadav, he is not a 360-degree player, he is not MS Dhoni. He is not the type of player who can hit big sixes from the get-go,” he further added.

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Irfan Pathan also shared about the T20I team’s No.3 spot, which has been shared by many players in the dynamic system, but primarily by the pair of Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma as well.

“If you ask me who the No.3 batter should be between Tilak and Surya, ideally it should be Tilak, because he likes to face pace bowling, and he will enjoy playing at the top. But, in my opinion, if Suryakumar Yadav bats consistently at No.3, he will score runs eventually. There is a lot of talk regarding his form, and the way he is batting, it does not look like he is struggling with form. I think from this series, we will see the old regular run-scoring version of Suryakumar Yadav,” Irfan Pathan added.

“If you want to play Sanju, then play him at the top. If you bat him in the middle order, then by the time the World Cup comes, it might be a problem, as far as I see. You only have 10 matches left till the World Cup, so you have to be properly prepared. This is one such area that needs to be completely cleared: who will keep wickets, and how will the middle order and lower order in the playing XI look like?” Irfan Pathan concluded.