Former Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik praised Shubman Gill for his sublime knock in the opening T20I against Australia in Canberra on Wednesday, October 29. Karthik paid Gill the highest compliment by comparing his 20-ball 37* to the kind of effortless innings ace batter Virat Kohli produces in ODIs.

Despite playing predominantly conventional shots, the Indian T20I vice-captain scored at an impressive strike rate of 185, hitting four boundaries and one maximum. Gill’s innings helped India reach a dominant position of 97/1 in the 10th over before rain intervened and ultimately washed out the rest of the contest.

Talking about Gill’s batting display after the no-result in the opening ODI, Karthik said on Cricbuzz (4:45):
“This is what Virat Kohli does in ODIs. You’ll never know where he is till you look at the scorecard. You’ll think he has only been around sometime and he’ll be on 45.”

Gill has been under immense pressure to deliver consistent runs in T20Is, especially after his sudden inclusion as an opener in the recent Asia Cup. Karthik acknowledged this challenge, saying:
“I am sure he is aware of the kind of players he is keeping out, starting from Sanju (Samson), Yashasvi, and the rest like Ruturaj and KL Rahul. It’s not easy to be a T20 player right now because you need to be consistent, exceptionally skilled, and almost play a match-winning knock every second or third game. That’s the kind of depth India has.”

He added:
“But the fact that he is the Indian captain and vice-captain will give him a lot of confidence. That helps you up to a point, but then you need to go out there and put in the runs, which he has done nicely today.”

Gill had been out of T20I action for a year before the recent Asia Cup, which led to the breakup of the highly successful Abhishek Sharma–Sanju Samson opening combination.

On this, Karthik said:
“That partnership is a match made in heaven.”

Karthik believes the bond between Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma strengthens their partnership significantly. The duo have been opening the batting for India in T20Is since the Asia Cup in Dubai. While Abhishek was named Player of the Tournament in India’s victorious campaign, Gill struggled with an average of under 22 in seven games.

“The Asia Cup wasn’t great for him, but he took the opportunity today with both hands and played some lovely shots,” Karthik noted. “That’s the kind of knock you want to see from him. We all know he can get a hundred, but at what pace you get the hundred is what everybody is looking at.”

Even after his unbeaten 37 in the series opener, Gill’s T20I numbers do not make for comfortable reading. The right-hander averages under 30 with a strike rate of 142.96 across 29 T20Is.

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*Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran*
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