'Next big thing after Kohli' - Twitter elated with Shubman Gill's classy return to ODIs

Gill has smashed a half-century in the game so far.

By Sumeet Kavthale

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Shubman Gill in first ODI against West Indies
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Shubman Gill in first ODI against West Indies (Photo Source: Fancode)

West Indies are hosting India in the first ODI match at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad on Friday, July 22. India’s stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan lost the toss and was forced to bat first on a balanced pitch. The biggest news from the Indian camp is Ravindra Jadeja missed the starting eleven (knee injury) and returning youngster Shubman Gill opened with Dhawan. For West Indies, star all-rounder Jason Holder is also missing the opening clash.

Indian management decided to rest senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for this series. This opened a door for Gill, who last played an ODI match against Australia in 2020. The regular Test batter has represented India in just three ODI matches before and is yet to make a big impact.

The 22-year-old right-handed batter kept out Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad for the opening spot to partner skipper Dhawan. Both Kishan and Gaikwad were heavily involved against South Africa and Ireland after the conclusion of IPL 2022. Kishan has failed to cross the 30-plus mark in the last five overall matches and was likely to be dropped from the first match. Gaikwad was a leading contender to start the opening match after getting ignored for the English tour but Gill’s classy return put the fans in celebration mood. As of now, the youngster is playing on 52 runs (at the time of writing this article).

This is a great opportunity to showcase talent: Shikhar Dhawan

“We wanted to bat second, wicket is sticky and rain is around but we are okay with this. I am a very cool captain, will hope to keep the energy up. Take good decisions and keep the process strong. The bench strength is complementary with the domestic and IPL cricket. This is a great opportunity to showcase talent, show fight, and win the series. Surya, Shreyas, and Samson are all good. Even myself (laughs). We get support here, from abroad and locals which is good,” Shikhar Dhawan said after losing the toss.

Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav have been given a chance to impress in the middle order with Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya not available. Sanju Samson is donning the gloves for the Men in Blue and in-form all-rounder Deepak Hooda will be playing the finisher’s role. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that Jadeja is missing the first two ODI matches with a minor right knee injury.

Axar Patel is given another chance to partner in-form leggie Yuzvendra Chahal to impress with no spin-option available for Team India. Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, and Mohammed Siraj form a pace partnership for India with Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan missing out.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Shubman Gill opening with Dhawan

 

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