"What we should be talking about is Shubman Gill's batting" - Sunil Gavaskar on Virat Kohli's future in T20I cricket

Sunil Gavaskar believes Shubman Gill's breathtaking century rather than Virat Kohli's T20I future should be the focus of discussions at the moment.

Kohli scored an unbeaten 101 off 61 deliveries to help the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) set a 198-run target for the Gujarat Titans (GT) in their IPL 2023 clash in Bengaluru on Sunday, May 21. Gill then smoked an unbeaten 104 off 52 balls to help his team register a six-wicket win and knock RCB out of the tournament.

During an interaction with India Today, Gavaskar was asked about his thoughts on Kohli's T20I future, to which he responded:

"What we should be talking about is Shubman Gill's batting because he got a hundred under pressure. I don't think we should be concerned about the selection for T20 because the next T20I, at least as far as the World Cup is concerned is more than a year away."

The former Indian skipper pointed out that Gill's special knock deserves more attention than the RCB opener's T20I future, elaborating:

"So I don't think we should be too concerned about it because what that man Shubman Gill did yesterday (Sunday) was simply breathtaking. To be able to bat better than what Virat Kohli had done takes something special and that's what he did."

Gill added 123 runs with Vijay Shankar (53 off 35) for the second wicket after Wriddhiman Saha was dismissed in the third over of the chase. Although Shankar, Dasun Shanaka and David Miller got dismissed in quick succession, the Punjab batter ensured that the Gujarat Titans got across the line.

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"It was just sublime batting" - Sunil Gavaskar on Shubman Gill's knock

Gill played shots all around the park during his unbeaten 104. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Sunil Gavaskar highlighted the contrast between Kohli and Gill's innings, explaining:

"Kohli's innings earlier was unbelievable, absolutely terrific. While it was more about power hitting, with Shubman Gill it was so smooth, it was so elegant, there was not a foot put wrong. It was just sublime batting."

The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by reiterating that Gill, Indian cricket's future, needs to be talked about more currently, saying:

"I think we should be talking more about that than worrying about whether Kohli deserves a place in the team or not. I think now is the time to look at the future and that future is Shubman Gill."

Kohli and Gill took contrasting approaches to score their centuries. While the RCB veteran struck 13 fours and a solitary six, the GT youngster smashed eight sixes and five fours in his enterprising knock.