'He is here to stay' - Aakash Chopra opens up on Shubman Gill's meteoric rise

After a stunning century (126* off 63 deliveries) in the third T20I against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, opener Shubman Gill finally gave glimpses of his class in the shortest format of the game, having already shown his prowess in the ODIs.

He has been playing some tremendous cricket in the last few months, which saw the 23-year-old score a sensational double-century against the Black Caps in the first ODI of the series in Hyderabad. Even against Sri Lanka, Gill proved his class, scoring 207 runs in the three-match ODI series.

With that, former India international Aakash Chopra believes that Gill is no more the player to look out for in the future but has now become the present of Indian cricket. He was the second-leading run scorer (372 runs in six matches) in the U19 World Cup 2018 and was touted to be the next great of Indian cricket. As per Chopra, Gill has done well so far and is playing well on a regular basis.

“We used to say that Shubman Gill is the future of Indian cricket, now we have started saying that he is the present of Indian cricket. His potential was seen when he went to play in the Under-19 World Cup. He started playing well and asked people to watch him because he has something special.

When he made his Test debut, I was slightly fifty-fifty. I was thinking that the guy was making his debut at the Melbourne ground and how it would go. He batted very well there also and hasn't looked back thereafter. He has regularly played well. There will be a few ups and downs but he has been good,” said the 45-year-old on his YouTube channel.

Chopra analyses Gill’s performance

In the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Shubman Gill was at his very best, scoring 483 runs in 16 matches and eventually helping Gujarat Titans lift the title in their debut season. Since then, he has been more or less a regular in the ODI set-up but in the last few months, he has elevated his game and as per Chopra, Gill is doing all that to prove that he is here to stay.

“If we see the last one year, we can start from the IPL, because he batted very well there as well, but what he has done in the last three months is something else. He has struck a sequence of centuries. By doing all that, he has said that he is here to say,” said Chopra.

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