With the five-match ODI series against New Zealand already in India’s pocket following the win in the third ODI, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly feels the team should give a chance to uncapped Shubman Gill in the remaining games. India, on Monday, thrashed the Kiwis by seven wickets to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.
Batting first, New Zealand collapsed from 178 for 3 to be all out for just 243 in 49 overs. In reply, India chased down the total inside 43 overs to bag the series with two games remaining. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma starred with the bat, scoring fifties to anchor the chase.
Following the win, Ganguly praised Kedar Jadhav before suggesting that Shubman Gill can be played in the middle-order.
“Kedar is a cricketer who can change the outcome of the match. He can handle pressure situations quite well as we saw against Australia. He’s handy with the ball as well and takes wickets. You can play Dhoni at 4, Kedar at 5 and you also have a batsman in Shubman Gill, who should play in the remaining matches,” Ganguly told IndiaTV.
Gill is one of the most sought after youngsters in the country. He has not looked back since starring for India in the victorious Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand last year.
He scored 372 runs at an average of 124 and bagged the Man of the Tournament award. It helped him bag a lucrative IPL deal from Kolkata Knight Riders. The youngster totally justified the franchise’s faith scoring 203 runs including a match-winning fifty against eventual winners Chennai Super Kings.
He then made it to India A team and continued his impressive show with the bat. Gill recently had a stunning outing in the ongoing season of the Ranji Trophy. In just 5 games, he scored 729 runs at an average of over 104. He also averages an impressive 47.72 from 37 List A games.
On Monday, skipper Kohli had also praised Gill, saying:
“A word on the youngsters coming in – I think there are some outstanding talents. We saw Prithvi Shaw grab the opportunity with both hands. Shubman is a very exciting talent and I saw him bat in the nets and I was like wow I was not even ten percent of that when I was 19. So, that’s the confidence that they carry and it’s great for Indian cricket, the standard keeps going up and the guys coming in can make those impact performances straightaway. And, we are more than happy to give them chances and provide them the space to grow.”