Both Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw came into the limelight during the ICC U19 World Cup in 2018 where they were the part of the winning Indian squad.
Shubhman Gill. (Photo: Twitter/@RealShubmanGill)
Young India batsman Shubman Gill has insisted that there is no competition between him and Prithvi Shaw for the opening spot in the senior team ahead of the two-match Test series against New Zealand.
Both the players came into the limelight during the ICC U19 World Cup in 2018 where they were the part of the winning Indian squad. Rising through the ranks, both the youngsters have made strong cases for their spot in the senior team. While Shaw has already made his debut for India in red-ball cricket, Gill has played two ODIs.
“Obviously, our careers started at the same time but there is no fight as such. Both of us have done well in our positions. It’s up to the team management, who they will play,” Gill was quoted as saying by PTI.
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“It’s not as if there is a fight. Whoever gets the chance will try to make the most of the opportunity and not let it go waste,” he added.
The 20-year-old, who has been spending his time with the India A team in New Zealand for the last six weeks, has been in stupendous form and even scored an unbeaten double hundred in one of the unofficial Tests against New Zealand A.
Speaking about his experience, he said wind is going to be a crucial factor in the upcoming series. He said, “Wind (Breeze) factor is very important, especially when you are batting. The bowlers do a lot of planning depending on the breeze. It was not that easy to consistently pull and hook the ball (in windy conditions during the A series).”
The youngster also spoke at length about New Zealand’s tactics to use short balls and believed if the Indian batsman could nullify that factor it would go a long way in helping the Indian team.
“I think their bowling attack has been taking a lot of wickets with the short ball, especially Neil Wagner. If you see the last series they played against Australia when nothing was happening in the wicket, they were really relying on the short ball,” he said.
Gill further added, “As batsmen, if we could take that out of the picture and not give wickets to the short ball, it will be really helpful for us.”
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