Shubman Gill Receives Stunning Praise From Sachin Tendulkar: "If You're Not Clear..."

NDTV

a day ago

India captain Shubman Gill was extremely consistent with his thought process but more importantly he respected the "good balls" to amass record-breaking 754 runs against England, said Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday. While Gill (754 runs) missed breaking Sunil Gavaskar's record of most runs for any Indian in a bilateral Test series (774), he did go past the latter's record of most runs for an India captain in a series (732). Gill now stands second behind Sir Don Bradman (810 runs) in the all-time captains' chart. "Shubman batted brilliantly throughout the series. He looked calm, composed and organised,' Tendulkar said in a series of videos posted on Reddit.
'When it comes to quality batting, you got to have a clear head and a game plan -- how you're going to build your innings -- and he was extremely consistent as far as his thought process was concerned, because it reflects on your footwork."
"If you're not clear in your head, your body doesn't respond accordingly. His body was responding brilliantly. He looked so much in control. He had so much time to play the ball and there was precision to his footwork,' he added.
Tendulkar picked Gill's ability to react to 'good balls' as a standout factor.
"The most important thing that I noticed was the respect to a good ball, where the tendency sometimes is to push the ball on the front foot, even if it's not close to your foot," he said.
"He was able to defend there and consistently defend well on front foot. If you look at how he batted throughout the series, I felt that his front foot defence was solid. His ability to leave the ball was very good. Overall, shot selection was very, very good and precise.'
"Superb approach" by Siraj
Tendulkar praised Mohammed Siraj, who bowled India to series-levelling win at The Oval in the final Test and claimed 23 wickets while featuring in each of the five matches, was "unbelievable".
"Unbelievable. Superb approach. I like his attitude,' Tendulkar said.
"I love the spring in his legs. If you don't look at the scoreboard and you just look at his body language, you will not be able to make out whether it is on a day Siraj has taken five wickets or has got nothing – the body language is the same." "(Siraj's) attitude and approach are the same. If a fast bowler is constantly in your face like that, no batsman likes that,' Tendulkar said.
The Little Master said India did appear lacking discipline on Day Four evening when England had a strong partnership between Joe Root and Harry Brook, but came out strong the next day.
"The team played like a solid unit. From the time they walked out on the field (on Day Five), everyone looked charged up and focused. As we say, planning-wise, there was a definite plan. There was much more discipline in their approach, especially the bowlers,' he said.
"If you notice, on the fourth (day) evening, I think they were lacking a bit of discipline and that invariably happens when there is a partnership (and) two batters are playing an attacking game," he added.
Tendulkar said while Rishabh Pant has figured out his game, he should not always be judged on the shots he plays.
"He has developed a good habit of playing impactful innings. He's figured out his game. There were occasions where people felt that he didn't need to play a certain shot, but someone like Rishabh should be left alone," Tendulkar said.
"I'm not saying that (he should attack) when you're looking to save a match -- then obviously he has to have a different approach. But if it's the first innings, or the second innings, or the third innings, or even for that matter, if he's playing in the fourth innings, in which situation (allows), that he's figured out." Tendulkar said senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been an "underrated player'.
"I would say, an underrated player. The way he contributes, he doesn't get that much credit. As a batter, he has been remarkable in this series. Not only in this series, but if you notice many times, he'll come and he'll rattle the opposition," he said.
Yashasvi Jaiswal's "mindset" and KL Rahul's ability to frustrate the bowlers were also among the qualities that impressed the batting legend.
"He (Jaiswal) has impressed me because of his mindset. Because he is a fearless batsman and he knows when to accelerate, when to play and (take a) run, (and) when to go to the non-striker end. I think a batter needs to understand that," he said.
Tendulkar continued, 'It's possibly one of the best that I've seen him (Rahul) bat. The way he was defending, close to the body and the way he was leaving the ball, I thought he was completely organised." "He knew where his off stump was and where to leave the ball. I almost got this feeling that sometimes he was able to frustrate the bowler," he added.