'Before this, it was different': Sunil Gavaskar explains what's 'weighing down' Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill is only 21, and a player as young as him is bound to go through certain ups and downs in the initial phase of his career, but former India captain Sunil Gavaskar seems to have found out what's eating the batsman.
It wasn't too long ago that Shubman Gill was the toast of the town. Making his Test debut against Australia Down Under, the young India batsman impressed with scores of 91, 50 and a couple of more starts in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. He is still that promising newcomer but surprisingly, the big scores have dried up. Gill scored only one half-century during the home Test series against England and failed to get past 50 even once during the IPL 2021.
Gill is only 21, and a player as young as him is bound to go through certain ups and downs in the initial phase of his career, but former India captain Sunil Gavaskar seems to have found out what's eating Gill. Gavaskar, the first batsman to score 10000 Test runs, feels Gill, albeit inadvertently, is being loaded with the weight of expectations, because of which he is unable to get the kind of scores behind him which he used to.
"I think what I feel about Shubman Gill is that suddenly, the pressure of expectation is getting to him. Before this, it was different. He was just a young promising newcomer, but now with the performances in Australia, the expectation is that he is going to score, and maybe that pressure of expectation is weighing him down," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Gill featured in all seven matches for KKR in IPL 2021 before the tournament was suspended indefinitely. His scores in these matches have read 0, 15, 33, 21, 0, 11, 9 and 43, which totals to 132 runs from seven matches. Last year in the UAE, Gill had starred with 440 runs from 14 matches, a stark contrast to his returns this year. Gavaskar reckons in order for Gill to start getting back in form, the 21-year-old needs to let go the mental pressure and what better way to do it than starting to enjoy his batting.
"He just needs to relax. He is just a 21-year-old kid. There will be failures and he has to learn from those failures. He's just got to open and play freely, without worrying about expectations. The runs will come if he plays his natural game. Trying to play across the line and trying to score off every delivery because of the pressure of expectation, he's actually getting himself out," Gavaskar added.
