'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAFAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUH/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQb/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAMwnlYJ//8QAHRAAAgEFAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIEAAMREiEiMf/aAAgBAQABPwCBK2jBWtIdPXfhqXcxKvBNkQOcKG4Bmv/EABYRAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIAM//aAAgBAgEBPwA7o3//xAAXEQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAQAD/9oACAEDAQE/AAqeUR3/2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Rising batter Shubman Gill played down the comparisons with legendary players laid out by fans and pundits alike on the back of his breakthrough year. The young opening batter has been in scintillating form across all three formats and is also the current Orange Cap holder in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL).
He has scored 851 runs in 15 matches over the course of the season and became only the second Indian batter after Virat Kohli to cross the 800-run mark in a single campaign. His efforts also include three centuries and his consistent exploits have sparked up comparisons with batters like Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli, as once-in-a-generation players.
Crediting the hard work of the players before him, Shubman Gill said in an interview with ANI:
"The generation that all of these people - Sachin sir (Tendulkar) sir, Virat (Kohli) bhai, Rohit Sharma - have inspired is beyond. Had we not won the '83 World Cup, had there been a Sachin Tendulkar? No. Had we not won the 2011 World Cup, would I be as inspired? Maybe, maybe not. These kinds of legacies are immortal, you can’t really define them."
Apart from his franchise exploits, Gill scored his maiden set of hundreds in Tests and T20I cricket. He was also a pivotal figure in Team India's home ODI, where he became the fourth Indian player to score a double-hundred in a 50-over contest.
Gill is viewed as an all-format player for Team India
The young batter has a huge six months ahead of him as the Men in Blue eye two major ICC titles in the form of the World Test Championship (WTC) as well as the ODI World Cup.
While his T20I career began on a shaky note, he has proven himself to be a reliable candidate at the top of the order since his maiden T20I ton against New Zealand.
His IPL 2023 campaign seals his credibility more than ever and he is likely to be viewed as an option for the T20 World Cup 2024 as well, especially with the management intending to phase out senior players from the T20I squad.
Will Shubman Gill be able to keep up this purple patch for long? Let us know what you think.
