Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik believes that young Indian batsman Shubman Gill is under pressure due to high expectations following a series of poor performances in red-ball cricket. The 24-year-old struggled with the bat in India’s two-match series against South Africa.
Shubman Gill scored only 74 runs in four innings in the recent two-match Test series against South Africa. Overall, he has 1040 runs from 20 Tests, averaging 30.58. On Day 1 of the first Test against England in Hyderabad, the right-handed batter was batting at 14 runs in 43 balls.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik said that Shubman Gill looked hesitant in his batting approach on Day 1 after an aggressive start by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma and feels that if his poor performances continue in red-ball cricket, Gill may lose his place in the national team.
“You can see pressure has gone to Shubman Gill. He knows if he fails a couple of times, his career for the moment, could be on the line. So, you could see that reluctance,” Dinesh Karthik said.
Since his heroics against Australia in Brisbane over three years ago, Gill has averaged around 30 in test cricket, with his only fifty-plus score coming against a depleted Bangladesh attack in Mirpur in away conditions. The opener would be eager to return to form in the five-match Test series against England.
I Also Think It Is A Huge Learning Curve For Ben Stokes As Well – Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik has opined that Ben Stokes may struggle as a captain against India unless England adapts its game to suit the conditions in India. The Indian wicket-keeper batter pointed out that the pitches and batting quality in India are vastly different from those in Pakistan, where England last played a Test series.
“After (Tom Hartley’s) three overs, I think 99 percent of the captains would have taken him off. I also think it is a huge learning curve for Ben Stokes as well. He is playing and captaining a little bit like how he captained (against) the Pakistan team. Two things are different than the Pakistan team: the caliber of batting and the kind of pitches that they played on.”
“They played on flat pitches where they could score 500 at a quick pace and put Pakistan, who just played orthodox cricket and got that score in a much longer time. So, his way of setting fields was a lot more attacking, which is understandable because he had 500 runs on the board,” Dinesh Karthik concluded.
After winning the toss, England chose to bat first in the match. However, they could not withstand India’s spin-bowling attack on the first day and were bowled out for 246-10. Skipper Ben Stokes top-scored with 70 runs, but no other batsman managed to score a half-century. India’s bowling attack was led by Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who both claimed three wickets. Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets apiece. India lost only one wicket, that of Rohit Sharma.
