Does Shubman Gill Have What It Needs To Be India Captain? Ricky Ponting Answers
Gill, the ODI vice-captain, is in red-hot form in 50-over format and made a bright beginning to the ongoing Champions Trophy.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has said that Shubman Gill is a very driven character and he wants to be the best not just in the batting department, but in the leadership part as well, touting him as one of the contenders to lead India in future.
Gill, the deputy to Rohit Sharma in ODIs, is in brilliant form in the format and made a good start to the ongoing Champions Trophy with a century in India’s six-wicket victory over Bangladesh.
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The youngster was the Player of the Series in the preceding three-match tie against England at home and he carried forward his form to Dubai, in the second major ICC tournament of his career.
“We’ve had a chance to catch up over the last couple of years, particularly around the IPL season. I like his demeanour. He seems like a very driven guy who wants to be the best that he possibly can be with batting and also as far as leadership’s concerned," Ponting said while speaking on the latest episode of The ICC Review.
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“He just seems like a nice character. A softly spoken guy, very driven for what he wants to achieve in the game," Ponting said.
The former Australia captain added that 50-over cricket suits Gill’s style of batting, hoping he would soon translate this success into Tests. The star India batter, who has already played 32 Tests, has an average of 35 in the longest format.
“He’s been a very, very good international player for several years. He hasn’t sort of transferred that over into Test Match cricket yet, but his white-ball cricket over the last three or four years has been outstanding," Ponting said.
“Look, he’s a big game player as well. He’s played well in IPLs over the last couple of years, obviously being captain of his franchise," Ponting added.
Over the last month, Gill has been in tremendous touch. He scored a century against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy, followed by two fifty-plus scores in the first two ODIs against England, a century in the third ODI followed by the hundred against Bangladesh.
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