Former England cricketer Mark Butcher has heaped praise on India’s new Test captain Shubman Gill, highlighting his composure and technical finesse in filling the shoes of Indian great Virat Kohli at the crucial number four spot. Gill’s stellar form in the ongoing Test series against England has earned him 585 runs in four innings, and silencing doubts over his technique and temperament. “There aren’t many jobs in world sport that come with as much pressure and scrutiny as being Indian cricket captain, right? Not to mention you’re filling in Kohli’s spot in the order, or Tendulkar’s spot in the order,” Butcher told PTI. “So the pressures were enormous. And so far, he’s taken to it like a duck to water. He’s just looked very, very comfortable, very serene in terms of his temperament,” the 52-year-old added. Speaking further on Gill’s performance, Butcher said, “And technically, he’s played beautifully as well. So what a great start to the series. I mean, he might have some records in his side by the end of it. He’s passed enough already. So what’s he got? 600 already in the series. It has been an incredible start.” He added that England need a plan for India’s middle order, especially Gill, stating, “England will have to come up with an answer for him… because they obviously feel, that you get past the top three or four…and then there are bounties to be had a bit further down the order.”
Butcher also shared his admiration for KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, commending the former’s consistency and Jaiswal’s hunger for runs. “Every time I’ve seen KL play, so we go back to the 2021 series here in England, and he batted at the top of the order with Rohit,” he said. “So technically, he just looks very, very suited to top-order batting, really. And the fact that he’s now going to have a long run, hopefully, in that position, his average will go upwards of 40 very, very quickly because technically he’s fabulous. He’s a great player to watch.” Butcher described Jaiswal as a “generational talent” and spoke about his batting obsession, as relayed to him by Kumar Sangakkara. “Jaiswal just loves batting by the looks of it… he’s obsessed by batting and scoring runs. And he does it in a beautifully pleasing way. For somebody who’s so young and so relatively inexperienced to sort of look as comfortable at the top of the order in all these different conditions, is magnificent,” he said.
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What aspect of Gill’s game do you find most impressive?
On India’s No. 3 spot, Butcher suggested the team should commit to a player. “You have to kind of make your choice and stick with it for a while because clearly, facing the new ball is difficult. People are going to get out for low scores. But you have to make your decision on who you think is the guy that’s going to fulfil that position.” Regarding Jaiswal’s potential short-ball vulnerability, Butcher remarked: “Yeah, possibly (he has a short ball weakness). It hasn’t cost him his wicket as yet. But it’ll be something that he’ll work on, I’m sure… I’m sure he’ll come up with an answer for it.”
