Former India all-rounder Abhishek Nayar felt that Shubman Gill would be unhappy with the way he got out in the first Test against the West Indies. He pointed out that while KL Rahul managed to score a boundary with a similar shot, it is debatable whether the reverse sweep is actually one of Gill’s trusted strokes.
Gill made 50 runs off 100 balls in India’s first innings of the Ahmedabad Test on Friday, October 3. By stumps on Day 2, the hosts were 448/5 with a healthy lead of 286. Speaking on Star Sports, Nayar added that Gill’s dismissal might have left him dissatisfied, raising the question of whether the reverse sweep should be part of the Indian captain’s go-to options.
“If I wear the coach’s cap, he would definitely be disappointed with the way he got out. However, considering the way the field had been set, and when KL Rahul played that shot to get a four, you always call it a percentage shot. Is that Shubman Gill’s shot? Does he like it?” he said.
The former India assistant coach felt that Gill’s mistake lay in the execution rather than the choice of shot.
“If it had gone for a four, we would have said it’s a good shot. Since he got out, it’s been asked whether he should have played it or not. As a coach, I would always say that as long as you were confident and your thought process was right, you had already scored a fifty, so it was the right time. The shot was on, but the execution wasn’t correct,” Nayar elaborated.
“Certainty in every shot” – Abhishek Nayar on Gill’s knock
During the discussion, Abhishek Nayar lauded Shubman Gill’s shot-making in India’s first innings.
“Usually, when you talk about Shubman Gill, you see the class, especially the control that was seen in his innings from the start. There was certainty in every shot, whether it was off the back foot or the front foot,” he said.
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