IPL 2021: "Other players have moved way ahead of him" - Ajay Jadeja on Shubman Gill 

Shubman Gill scored his first half-century of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 to help Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) secure a crucial win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday. In a low-scoring game, Gill scored 57 off 51 to help KKR chase 116 to stay in the fourth spot, with qualification for the IPL 2021 playoffs still in their hands.

Former India batsman Ajay Jadeja, however, remained critical of Gill and said that several players had moved ahead of the KKR opener since he got injured after the World Test Championship final against New Zealand.

Jadeja said that Gill's Test spot was already in jeopardy following the resurgence of KL Rahul in the series against England and stellar performances from Rohit Sharma. Jadeja opined that now in T20s as well, other young openers like Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, and Ruturaj Gaikwad have surpassed Gill with their showings this season.

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"This year has not been a good one for Shubman Gill. When he came back from injury, other players had moved way ahead of him. Because he had become a favourite in the Indian team after the series in Australia. After his injury, KL Rahul, who wasn’t even in the team, has established himself, Rohit Sharma too. So even his place in the Test squad is now in doubt, and in T20s, all these names are also there ahead of him now," Jadeja told Cricbuzz.

Jadeja said Gill has good game sense and is good in low-scoring chases, but needs to improve his skillset.

"The players who score a lot of runs when they are young, they have a great game sense. He has a good idea of the game, so when the game is in control, he won’t throw it away, but if he makes some additions to his skills, he can be even better," he said.

Shubman Gill has only played small impressive knocks, but not made big contributions: Ajay Jadeja

Ajay Jadeja opined that Shubman Gill has consistently played short knocks that have given KKR the momentum they need in their innings, but he has had an otherwise poor season. Jadeja went on to explain:

"He’s not made a big score before this. He has played impressive knocks, but short ones. Whenever an innings has needed some momentum or impetus, he has provided that, so it doesn’t feel like he has had a poor season. But he hasn’t played a long knock after the field has spread after the Powerplay. Because that’s his style. He is a boundary player. He doesn’t take a lot of singles. So when he hits a four, you think oh, what a shot, but then one or two dots around the boundary brings him back to run-a-ball."

Gill has scored 296 runs in 13 matches this year, at a strike rate of 117.92.

While he had seven half-centuries in the three seasons before this one, this was his first in this edition of the IPL.