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'I haven't seen Shubman Gill bat': Kevin Pietersen says, 'Kallis started slowly but turned out to be a superstar'
Despite a rocky start, Shubman Gill excelled as India's captain, scoring nearly 600 runs in two Tests vs England. Kevin Pietersen likened him to Jacques Kallis.
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen did not watch Shubman Gill bat in the Edgbaston Test against England, but he kept track of the India captain's record-breaking achievements. He was not one bit surprised by Gill's exploits in the second Test, where he scored 430 runs (269 and 161) to lead India to their biggest-ever away win (in terms of runs) by 336 runs, that too at a venue where they hadn't won in 19 attempts.
"I haven't seen him bat. I wasn't watching any cricket. I am not surprised to see his numbers. I put my head on a block a few years ago, saying that please back Shubman Gill," said Pietersen when asked about the Indian captain's heroics at Edgbaston at a charity event for former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh's foundation YouWeCan in London on Tuesday.
Pietersen, then went on to give legendary South Africa cricketer Jacques Kallis' example, to let people know about Gill's potential
"Jacques Kallis started very slowly and turned out to be an absolute superstar...I think we were in Vizag during a Test match. I said please relax, chill out and back him. He got a century the next day. He just oozes quality," Pietersen added.
Kevin Pietersen compares Shubman Gill to Jacques Kallis
Pietersen had tweeted the same when an underfire Shubman Gill scored a century against England at Vizag last year. He scored a 91 in the next in Rajkot and then finished the series with another century in Dharamsala. The home series against England in 2024 was in many ways a turning point in Gill's Test career.
After Gill registered his maiden double century in the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Pietersen posted a screenshot of his year-old tweet to once again remind fans to be patient with a class player like him.
Kallis, who made his debut in 1995, averaged only 25 in Test cricket for the first 16 Tests with only one century and three fifties but he finished as one of the game's greatest ever with 13289 runs at an average of 55 and 45 centuries. Not to forget, his 292 Test wickets at an average of 32.
Gill, too, averaged only 35 in Test cricket when he was given the captaincy after Rohit Sharma's Test retirement. His away average was even worse but the talent and class was always there. The Indian selectors backed that and the result was there for everyone to see.
Gill started his captaincy journey with a superb 147 in the first Test at Headingley. Unfortunately, India could not win that Test as England's batters put up a stellar show in both innings to take a 1-0 lead. Gill, not happy with how he threw his wicket away in the first innings, was determined to make it count. He did that in style in the second Test at Edgbaston, breaking a plethora of records to help India level the series.
Gill has already amassed close to 600 runs in the series and is destined to break Sunil Gavaskar's India record for most runs in a bilateral series set in 1971 against the West Indies when he scored 774 runs in four Tests.
