Over the past few months, there have been big talks about the passing of the baton from Virat Kohli to Shubman Gill, as it was 12 years ago with Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli.
34-year-old Kohli is in the last phase of his career while Shubman Gill has just gotten started, and has started with a bang over the past year and so.
One man who has been up close with all three of them is former India coach Gary Kirsten, who is batting coach at Gujarat Titans.
When asked about the comparison of Gill with Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli, Gary Kirsten was quick to assert that it would be “unfair” to put Gill in the same bracket as the two legends as the 23-year-old has played little cricket compared to the other two.
“He is a young player who has incredible skill and determination to be one of the best players in the world. It would be unfair to compare him to Sachin and Virat so early in his journey,” Kirsten said in an interview with Cricbuzz.
Over the past 14 months, Shubman has won an IPL title, cracked centuries in all three formats for India, and recently won the Orange Cap in IPL 2023. Kohli, too, has come out of his slump and has regained his mojo.
But Gill is definitely the next big thing in Indian cricket and is destined for greatness. Kirsten is most impressed with Gill’s success in T20 cricket, how quickly he’s grasped the format.
“I believe he has the game to successfully play across all three formats for India. You don’t often see that, these days, particularly as T20 cricket is developing and progressing so fast,” the South African added.
The former India coach also believes that Shubman Gill is a future captaincy material.
“I think he has the potential to become a leader. He has a good knowledge and understanding of the game and he gets on well with his teammates,” he explained.
Gill’s next challenge is the WTC Final 2023 against Australia, then the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup 2023 at home. The upcoming months are filled with opportunities for the youngster to cement his name in the annals of Indian cricket.
