Sunil Gavaskar sees a bright future for Shubman Gill, despite his somber debut in the fourth ODI

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar had come forward in support of Shubman Gill, who made a dismal debut for India in the fourth ODI against New Zealand in Hamilton. Gill managed to make only 9 runs before becoming one of the five victims of Trent Boult. The Hamilton ODI was the first time since 2015, that Team India took ground without both Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni in their playing XI.

While Kohli has flown back to India after being rested for the remaining part of the tour, MS Dhoni was yet to recover from his hamstring injury. The affair proved to be disastrous for Rohit Sharma, the stand-in Indian captain, who played his 200th ODI, as India was bowled out for 92 runs and lost the match by 8 wickets.

Shubman Gill made way into the Indian team in place of Dhoni and was welcomed by a bouncer to the helmet by Boult. Though he hit a good-looking boundary on the leg side, his stay in the middle was a short one and he went back to pavilion after being caught by Boult, who picked 5/21, on his own bowling.

A bright future for Gill

Sunil Gavaskar said that he was assured of Gill’s batting and that the team management should persist with the youngster. Gavaskar also said that he saw a bright future for Gill. “Well, for whatever little time he was there, he was a little bit tense, nervous. That’s understandable because he is playing for the country for the first time. Even then, when Boult was swinging the ball, he was able to get in line, yes… he was hit by the short ball as well. I think this guy’s got a future, you have got to be patient with him,” said Gavaskar in a chat with Star Sports.

Shubman Gill was pegged for an international debut ever since becoming a known name for his Player of the tournament performance in the U19 World Cup win in 2018. He also scored for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2018 IPL and then in the domestic cricket for Punjab, including his highest FC score of 268.

Gill was included in the Indian team after the suspension of Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul following the controversy after their appearance on chat show Koffee With Karan. He had to wait for three matches before making his debut for India.

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