Despite comparing India’s new Test captain Shubman Gill, to the legendary Virender Sehwag, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting outlined that a similar approach is likely to meet a fresh challenge in the upcoming tour of England, and hence has work to do on his Test match batting. The Aussie great also called for a change in his batting position, considering the added responsibility of captaincy.
Speaking to PTI, Ponting addressed Gill’s much-criticised defensive technique, which has cost the youngster multiple times in his short career thus far. And although he sees no technical flaw in his approach, he reckoned Gill has to work on the mental side of Test match batting.
“It’s a bit both. There are some of the great Test players that haven’t had great defensive games, and (Virender) Sehwag is probably a great example of that. But if you’re in control of your stroke-play, you don’t have to worry too much about your defence. I mean, obviously it’s (defence) a big part of Test match cricket, but I think it’s more his mental application,” he explained.
“(But) I think sometimes you might just get a little bit either ahead of himself or a little bit lazy in the middle of a test match innings. You can’t afford to do that. You’ve got to be 100 per cent committed to every ball that you face through six or seven hours of every day…I think that’s the challenge for Shubman.”
Gill to replace Virat Kohli at No. 4?
The biggest question since Kohli’s departure from Test cricket last month was who would replace the former India captain at No. 4 in the line-up. Ponting backed Gill for the role, at least for the initial phase of his leadership tenure, which will begin on June 20 in Leeds with the five-match Test series against the Ben Stokes-led side.
“…the reason I did that was if they go with (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, and if Sai Sudarshan is the other opener, they need someone a bit more experienced at number three. So that could be either, KL at three, or that could be a Karun Nair at three and Shubman at four.
“…once you grow into it, then you can move yourself back up to that number three spot,” said one of the finest batters of his generation.