'Shubman Gill requires to address it': VVS Laxman on problems with India opener | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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'Shubman Gill requires to address it': VVS Laxman on problems with India opener

Jun 26, 2021 09:34 PM IST

Reacting to Gill’s tendency to fall over to straight deliveries, former India batsman VVS Laxman said, the youngster needs to work on his game as the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad may target him in the upcoming series.

India opener Shubman Gill’s problems against the moving ball was evident in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand, which India lost by 8 wickets. While the right-hander did come up with a counter in the first innings by at times taking a few steps towards the seamer to negate the late movement but he was found wanting against the in-coming delivery in the second innings. The right-hander played all around a Tim Southee delivery which should not have caused any problems had he offered the full face of the bat.

India's Shubman Gill(AP)
India's Shubman Gill(AP)

Reacting to Gill’s tendency to fall over to straight deliveries, former India batsman VVS Laxman said, the youngster needs to work on his game as the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad may target him in the upcoming series.

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"This is something (Foot movement against incoming deliveries) Shubman Gill requires to address, especially keeping in mind the England series in which Stuart Broad and James Anderson will test the right-hander with the ball coming in," Laxman said on Star Sports.

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India are slated to play five Tests against England and Gill has the likes of Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul breathing down his neck for the opener’s spot.

The Punjab right-ranger made an impressive debut in Australia in which he registered two solid half-centuries in three Tests but his shortcomings against the in-coming delivery was exposed by Anderson in the home series against England.

Ever since that second innings 91 at the Gabba, Gill has registered scores of 29, 50, 0, 14, 11, 15*, 0, 28 and 8 in his last five Tests.

Gill was also not been in the best of forms for the Kolkata Knight Riders even in the IPL.

Seeing Gill’s struggles at the top of the order, former India selector Gagan Khoda said it might not be a bad idea to push the 21-year-old down the order and go back to open with Mayank Agarwal, who lost his spot to Rohit Sharma in the Australia tour.

“It was not meant to be like this. Shubman Gill isn’t an opener. He is like VVS Laxman, he should bat in the middle-order. India should have picked Mayank Agarwal, who had only two bad Test matches. Even Prithvi Shaw was shown the door after just one failure in Australia,” Khoda told Sportskeeda.

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