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Kevin Pietersen has supported young Indian batsman Shubman Gill.© X (Twitter)
Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has backed young Indian batsman Shubman Gill after he once again failed to impress in the first innings of the second Test in Visakhapatnam. After a spectacular start to his Test career, Gill’s average has fallen to 29.5. In 21 Tests, he scored just 1063 runs with two centuries and four scores of 50+ in the process. However, Pietersen feels that the Indian team management should give him more time to adapt, insisting that the youngster could achieve big things like former South African great Jacques Kallis, who also had a poor start to his Test career.
“Kallis averaged 22 in his first 10 Tests and turned out to be possibly the best player to ever play. Give @ShubmanGill time to find him please. He’s a serious player!” Pietersen posted on X (formerly Twitter).
However, fans on social media criticized Pietersen for comparing Gill’s situation to Kallis, who is arguably the greatest Test player of all time due to his all-round exploits.
This is how the Internet reacted:
After managing just 23 runs in the first Test against England, Gill showed some intent before falling to James Anderson for 34. Gill has struggled to score runs since recovering from dengue during the World Cup.
His demotion to no. 3 in Tests, following Yashasvi Jaiswal’s emergence as a reliable Test opener, also appears to be a work in progress.
Talking about Day 1 of the second Test, India managed to score 336/6 on the board with Jaiswal and Ravichandran Ashwin unbeaten with scores of 179* and 5* respectively.
Vizag continued to witness Jaiswal’s prowess with the bat, his maturity to stick with his side and keep the scoreboard ticking while forming small but effective partnerships.
Jaiswal’s composure allowed him to have a fine balance between attack and defence. His 179* saw him score 17 boundaries and hit five maximums, causing England to reconsider his plans.
India stumbled three times in the third session of the day with Rajat Patidar, Axar Patel and KS Bharat falling to the English duo of Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir.
With ANI inputs
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