Shubman Gill Is No Virat Kohli, Says Manjrekar On Heated Exchange With Zak Crawley: 'He Wasn't Up For It'

Shubman Gill Is No Virat Kohli, Says Manjrekar On Heated Exchange With Zak Crawley: 'He Wasn't Up For It' (Source: AP)

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Shubman Gill's decision to have a go at England on Day 3 of the Lord's Test affected his batting in the second innings. Gill was involved in a heated exchange with Zak Crawley after he felt the batter deliberately wasted time to avoid facing an extra over before stumps on Day 3.

When Gill came out to bat on the final Day, with India chasing 193, England gave it back to the Indian skipper. Gill looked under pressure and was dismissed LBW for six by Brydon Carse. Manjrekar said when the opposition fired up Virat Kohli, it brought the best out of him, but the same was not the case with Shubman Gill, who looked rattled by the charge.

"The thing with Virat Kohli was that he would get even more fired up and become a better batter [if things got nasty]," Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo Match Day. "What disappointed me with Shubman Gill and that is why I was wondering, where is Shubman Gill heading? Because that seemed like it didn't have the right effect on Shubman Gill the batter.

"He came out looking very tentative and, you know, these days we are privy to the stump mic and we could hear the things being said and there were some personal attacks made. This could be a new experience for Shubman Gill because these days, as you can see, you know, with Indian players, there's mostly friendly reception from a lot of foreign teams. So this was new territory. And he looked tentative and wasn't up for it."

Before the Lord's Test, Gill scored three centuries in four innings and didn't look in any trouble whatsoever; however, he wasn't at his best at Lord's, especially in the second innings, where he looked nervous and tentative. Manjrekar said he has no doubts that Gill's performance was affected by England's counterattack on him.

"We saw it pan out in the way he batted," Manjrekar said. "Because these were deliveries, good deliveries, but he's negotiated beautifully through his marathon run as a batter through the series. And suddenly he was missing those balls. There was a review situation as well.

Shubman Gill celebrating a wicket in Lord's Test vs England Photo : AP

"Next ball, there was a leg before. Going through Shubman Gill's defence has been hard work. He has hardly missed a ball. The control percentage has been brilliant. And suddenly, in about nine deliveries [in the second innings], he's missed four. I have no doubt that there is a connection there.

Manjrekar further added that if Gill had that fiery side in him, the world would have seen it before he was named the captain of the side.

Virat Kohli aggressively celebrates a wicket Photo : AP

"And just to extend on that point, if Shubman Gill had that kind of a fiery side to him, we would have seen it a little earlier. You don't have to show it when you're captain. Or did he show it because he's got this confidence now that he's won a Test match and he's got so many runs? Because with Virat Kohli, you could see that he was ready for a scrap. He was always waiting to get in the thick of things. Even when he wasn't a captain, you could see him coming in there. So that was a trait that we'd seen even before he was captain. With Shubman Gill, I've never seen it before."

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