Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan is impressed by the way team India is playing the T20Is and ODI against various nations. At the same time, he came with a player whom he thinks has the potential to become the next Virat Kohli.
At the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 1, during the third and final T20i International between India and New Zealand, Gill smacked an unbeaten 126 off 63 deliveries as India set a challenging 235-run target. The Kiwis were knocked out for 66, giving Hardik Pandya and company a 168-run victory in the series finale.
While having a conversation at Star Sports, the former Indian all-rounder said, “The way he is batting, I am a huge fan of his. I am repeatedly saying that he can become an all-format player for you. Virat Kohli ruled all formats for many years, this batter has as much potential. To convert that into performance is a different thing.”
He praised Shubman Gill for his dream run on centuries which he has been scoring since a few series.
He said, “That happens with time but Shubman Gill has started to do that. He scored his first century in August. Gill has now scored a total of six centuries in international cricket and we have just started February, where all other players have scored just four international centuries.”
In the final ODI match against Zimbabwe in August last year, Gill scored his first-ever century in an international match.
Talking about the approach of Shubman Gill, Irfan Pathan said, “He is improving his game. The challenge before Shubman Gill in T20 cricket was whether his strike rate can improve once he gets set – we saw that. We saw amazing shots today – on the up, the pull shots, and against the spin.”
