When Shubman Gill made his Test debut against Australia at the MCG, a select few outside of India had known about the then 21-year-old sensation from Punjab.
Opening the batting, Gill impressed in his debut Test series, scoring 258 runs in six innings, including a then career best of 91 at the Gabba in India’s famous series clinching run chase of 329. Gill seemed a different breed, especially with his ability to take on the short ball comfortably – a rare trait among subcontinental batters who have grown up on lower bouncing surfaces.
But just as quickly as Gill rose to fame in India for his exploits in Australia, Test cricket humbled him as the runs dried up with opposition bowlers figuring out his weakness towards in-swingers and left-arm spin.
With Gill playing in all formats for India, he never had the opportunity to go back to the Ranji Trophy consistently and score runs again at first class level to find his feet. And the troubles continued with his first two Test centuries coming on the best batting wickets in Bangladesh and India respectively, with his other innings offering little substance.
With India losing the 2023 World Test Championship final to Australia and the rise of Yashashvi Jaiswal at first class level, Gill should have been dropped from the Indian Test team. Despite averaging under 33 after 16 Tests, Gill got a lifeline from the Indian Test team, as he replaced veteran Cheteshwar Pujara at number three.
But the runs were not coming for Gill as he struggled to make an impact in the away tours of West Indies and South Africa. Despite not starting the beginning of a five-match series well against England at home, it all started to change in the second innings of the second Test as Gill scored a counter-attacking 104 off 147 deliveries on a turning Visakhapatnam pitch as India went on to win the second Test by 106 runs.
However, it was his knock of 52 not out in the fourth Test at Ranchi that impressed many. With India chasing 192 to clinch the Test series on a low pitch, the hosts were in a spot of bother at 5/120. Gill curbed his natural instincts of taking on the bowlers, biding his time and waiting 120 deliveries to hit his first boundary as he and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel took India to a five wicket victory.
Gill finished the Test series with a breathtaking 110 and currently has four Test centuries to his name in 25 Test matches at an average of 35.52.
There’s no doubt that Shubman Gill has had an extended run at Test level compared to his competitors in India. However, it is hard not to give Shubman Gill an extended run when he had scored double hundreds in the West Indies and New Zealand in first class cricket before he had turned 21.
Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel celebrate the winning runs for India. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
In fact, one could say that Shubman Gill is being given the VVS Laxman treatment, who had scored a mere 925 runs in 36 Test innings before a breathtaking 281 against Australia in Kolkata changed his career.
Shubman Gill has had comparisons to Virat Kohli from his under 19 days. And it is difficult not to do so to an extent. Both are Punjabi boys who love to rile the opposition up and bat long, especially on pitches with consistent bounce. There is an aura of confidence when these two players bat and when they are on song.
Kohli is still the big fish in the Indian Test team, especially now that he has found form in all formats over the past 12–18 months. But Shubman Gill is the next big wicket for Australia as he comes to Australia for the second time in hopes of emulating what Virat Kohli did in his second Test tour of Australia.
Gill comes into the tour of Australia next summer with confidence that he belongs at Test level and can grind his way to playing a match-winning knock.
Add in his ability to do well on pitches with high bounce and Australia need to prepare well for Gill, or else things could get ugly for Australia and fail to regain the Border Gavaskar Trophy, having lost it four series in a row.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Forgot about Jadeja… he probably is, but Kohli is second. Dravid was a fine catcher, but Kohli is better in the rest of the field, he’s taken absolute screamers Dravid would never have touched.
sedz
Roar Rookie
I also want to say look out for Jurel. My conscious mind says Jaiswal or Sarfaraz Khan may not succeed with their technique but this young keeper batsman is amazing. He’s not Pant who plays flamboyantly but has great technique to be in the team just for keeping or batting. Looking forward to chat in the winter time (I am in Northern hemisphere ????).
sedz
Roar Rookie
Kohli was not the best. I’d say Ravindra Jadeja is the best. Even in slips I think Rahul Dravid was the best similar to how Mark Waugh was for Australia n rarely he dropped a catch.
sedz
Roar Rookie
Totally agree with your assessment Jeff. But those hard hands are a death roll in NZ or England conditions. A batsman need to adjust when to play soft or hard hands because a lot of time soft hands don’t nick to slip. I think Rahul Dravid was a master of the art in Tests.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Green's the worst looking 24yo Test player going around. The guy has no future!
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Gill was very good in Aus last time. Think he will end up being sublime this time, across a 5 match series. I've said it it before - Gill is the "most Australian" (and "un-Indian") Indian Test batsman we have ever seen. He plays with hard hands and he plays on the up. His go-to is to drive hard, followed by cutting early against the short ball. In the form he is in, in Australian conditions, I reckon he is going to play a blinder of a series.
Anth
Roar Rookie
Kohli is a proven entity. That being said; Jaiswal has burst onto the Test cricket scene with insane numbers and Gill continues to consolidate his place at 3 in the Indian team. Neither of the two latter blokes are 24. Just crazy talent available for India. Here in Australia half the nation are up in arms because old mate Bancroft at nigh on 32 with quite ordinary numbers and on the back end of a cycling accident is somehow overlooked behind Usman or Smith as a walk up start as Test opener. Dunno what the future holds, but don’t reckon it’s good for Australia.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Jaiswal looks like he could be even bigger. Haven’t seen him on bouncy pitches much though he looked pretty good in Dharmsala, not much trouble against Wood. Didn’t know Kohli was Punjabi.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Ravindra looked pretty good against Australia and his performances in the ODI world cup were amazing - even just good players are rarely able to do that on the back of a purple patch. It's odd that he seems so poor in the field, top shelf batsmen tend to be excellent fielders (Kohli is the best Indian fieldsman ever and Root is also very good in the field, obviously Smith is the best of the four). Brook is yet to be tested properly in my opinion; we missed a good chance to assess him in India. If he returns for this English summer, I don't think much will be learned against such weak opponents.
The Bush
Roar Guru
I know, that's why those folks are fools.
jammel
Roar Rookie
Yes - will be interesting to see how Gill + Jaiswal handle the cartel in Australian conditions!! Both certainly look marvellous. A new/young big 5 would be interesting to watch. I am yet to be convinced that Ravindra / Brook will be longterm on a par with the likes of Green/Gill (in the Test arena). But we will see!
Blink
Roar Rookie
Good as Gill is Jaiswal appears to have an incredible amount of time to decide whether to hit a four or a six. He did it so easily in IPL last season but has demonstrated he can bide his time in test cricket as well. I'm looking forward to seeing these two in action in Australian conditions.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
The numbers are almost the same.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Is this a reference to Green? Because if so, those folks commenting on the Roar are fools.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Imagine playing 25 tests and averaging 35 if you were a West Australian in our test team. Folk on The Roar would be calling for replacements.
The Bush
Roar Guru
I'm really excited to see how Gill goes. Whilst the comparisons have been a little lame at times, I've really enjoyed the decade long discussion now about the Fab 4 and exciting to think that we might now be seeing a new Fab 4 from the same countries; Gill (Ind), Green (Aus), Brooke (Eng) and Ravindra (NZ), who are all the exact same age I'm pretty sure. Of course the unbelieve performance of Jaiswal means it could be a Fab 5 this time or something different. I hope he really kicks no with his career for another reason too; I've loved the Kohli combativeness over the years. There have been occasions where he's taken it too far, that happens to all players, but mostly I've really gotten into it; if he was Australian, we'd have all loved his attitude from day one. If Gill can bring that same attitude - plus the never say die ability - then test cricket will continue to thrive between our nations.