Former India batter Wasim Jaffer believes talented India youngster Shubman Gill can play anywhere in the batting order in Test cricket. However, he also added that Gill failed to grab his opportunities at No. 3 in the recently concluded Test series against the West Indies as well. However, he batted at the No. 3 position for the two-match Test series against the Windies based on his request, with Yashasvi Jaiswal opening the batting with Rohit Sharma. But he got out very cheaply in two of his three innings as well.
During a discussion on JioCinema, Jaffer said: “He is a good player. A player like him can play anywhere from No. 1 to No. 5. Shubman Gill has a game like that. He would have thought something before doing that. I remember he was playing at No. 3 or No. 4 in the Under-19 World Cup as well. However, we have consistently seen him open. I am not surprised about his decision to choose No. 3. We openers had a problem sometimes when we fielded for 150 overs and had to go and face the new ball within 10 minutes. So No. 3 gives you a little cushion.”
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However, Wasim Jaffer rated Shubman Gill at four out of 10 for his poor performances against the West Indies. Gill scored 45 runs which came at an average of 22.50 in his three innings against the West Indies. He managed only 16 runs in his first two innings and wasn’t comfortable in the middle as well.
He said: “You get to see the bowling and the pitch. Maybe that could be one of the reasons. I would give him four marks because he got two good opportunities. However, these are early days, it’s not a huge concern, but the tour has not been good. He will have to tighten his game a little on slow pitches. Maybe he has a slight habit of playing on the rise. If he can improve on that, it’s not a big cause for worry, but that is one thing he needs to tighten.”
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“It shouldn’t take too much time because he has scored a hundred in Bangladesh. You have similar conditions there – low and slow, spin-dominated. He plays cricket in India as well. So it is not that he is unaware of Indian wickets. It’s just about a little experience. If he spends a little time and works on it, it shouldn’t be a big issue,” Wasim Jaffer concluded.
