“You come out and bat like Don Bradman” - Ravi Shastri hails Shubman Gill for his match-winning performances in 2nd Test vs England

Former Indian head coach and commentator Ravi Shastri has heaped praise on the Indian Test captain Shubman Gill for breaking a lot of world records with his twin centuries in the Birmingham Test against England to level the series 1-1.

Advertisment

While Gill smacked his career-best score of 269 runs in the first innings of the second Test, he went on to score 161 runs in the second innings to aggregate a total of 430 runs in a Test, the second-highest behind former England cricketer Graham Gooch’s 456.

Moreover, Gill was adjudged the player of the match for his twin centuries. Interestingly, he has smacked three centuries in four innings so far on the England tour. While hailing Gill, Shastri compared him with Sir Don Bradman.

"The best by a captain, 10 out of 10. I mean you can't ask for anything more from a captain. You're one down in the series. You come out there and you bat like (Don) Bradman. 269 and 161, and you end up winning the game," Shastri said on SkySports.

Advertisment

With three tons in four innings, Gill is already leading the run-scoring charts in the five-match Test series, amassing 585 runs. Interestingly, his average moved up from over 35 to nearly 43 after the end of the second Test.

Furthermore, Shastri was also completely impressed by Gill’s captaincy and team selection. Though Gill was following the ball in the Leeds Test and was labelled as highly reactive, he emerged as a proactive in the next game, getting praises from the cricketing fraternity. 

"Your captaincy was very reactive in the first test match. You almost followed the ball. You're very proactive in the next game. You might have just unearthed the best seamer for English conditions in this Indian lineup by picking Akash Deep, who will trouble England as this series progresses," Shastri added.

Advertisment

Stay updated with the latest cricket news, match insights, and exclusive updates at Sky247 India and download the Sky247 app to start betting today!