Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli ended his century drought while opener Shubman Gill slammed a scintillating ton to seal Team India's famous series win over Australia in the recently concluded edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Monday. Rohit Sharma's Team India played out a high-scoring contest with Australia led by stand-in skipper Steve Smith as the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy ended in a stalemate at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
After Sri Lanka's defeat to New Zealand in the first Test of their bilateral series, Team India also punched their tickets to the final of the ICC World Test Championship despite ending the 4th Test against Australia in a draw. Reflecting on India's performance in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar showered praise on opener Gill, who had replaced vice-captain KL Rahul during the four-match series.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Manjrekar was asked to share his views about the in-form batter. "He showed glimpses of it when he made his debut in Australia. It seemed that he is a capable player and can play Test cricket as well. We knew his fundamentals were good when we saw him in Under-19. Rahul Dravid was the coach then and was very happy with his basic abilities," Manjrekar said.
Opener Gill slammed a sensational century on Day 3 of the 4th Test match between India and Australia. The 23-year-old became the third youngest batter to score a Test century for India against Australia. Gill's crucial 128-run knock laid the foundation for a gigantic 1st innings total in the Ahmedabad Test match. "The things I liked - one thing I will talk about is the footwork. The front foot is now going further forward although the trigger movement is the back foot. This will help him a lot in Test cricket," Manjrekar observed.
{{/usCountry}}Opener Gill slammed a sensational century on Day 3 of the 4th Test match between India and Australia. The 23-year-old became the third youngest batter to score a Test century for India against Australia. Gill's crucial 128-run knock laid the foundation for a gigantic 1st innings total in the Ahmedabad Test match. "The things I liked - one thing I will talk about is the footwork. The front foot is now going further forward although the trigger movement is the back foot. This will help him a lot in Test cricket," Manjrekar observed.
{{/usCountry}}Gill struck 12 boundaries in his entertaining knock of 128 off 235 balls against Smith and Co. in Ahmedabad. Gill's brilliant knock of 128 is also his career-best score in the oldest format. Before making his presence felt in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the youngster had smashed four international centuries in seven white-ball matches. Former Indian cricketer Manjrekar gave legendary India opener Virender Sehwag a special mention while talking about the ‘power game’ of opener Gill in the Australia series.
"The second thing we saw in Test cricket as well is the big game, the confidence with which he plays the lofted shots. When you see him, it seems he is a purist, a classical player to an extent, but the power game comes whenever he calls for it. In this match also he played a lofted shot in the nineties to go close to a hundred. He reached his (ODI) double hundred also with a six. This power game saves you in nervous moments as it did with Virender Sehwag. I didn't know about this but now it has come to the fore that this is another of his rare strengths," Manjrekar concluded.