IND batter praises Kohli, compares Shubman Gill to Dhoni: A future superstar in the making

Following the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from T20Is, Shubman Gill is anticipated to receive an increased number of opportunities in the shortest format as well.

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra also spoke highly of Gill and said he has the important quality of understanding the pulse of the game, which was also the case with legends like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli at a young age in his career.

"The biggest quality of Shubman is that he understands the pulse of the game. Some players are very quick to understand. Some understand eventually. Some never understand. So, the greats you see, they understand very quickly. So, Virat Kohli understood the pulse of the game very quickly. Mahendra Singh Dhoni understood the pulse of batting in ODIs very quickly," said Aakash in a podcast with Raj Shamani.

"Shubman Gill understands the pulse of the game. He understands 100% where the game is going. Where can I go? Where can I take it? How can it run according to me? He is absolutely brilliant. He is top-class about himself," he added.

The talented youngster failed to make it into India's T20 World Cup-winning squad, as the team management decided to promote Kohli as Rohit Sharma's opening partner. Yashasvi Jaiswal was chosen as the backup opener, while Gill travelled to the USA as a reserved player.

Chopra, who called Shubman the future superstar, defended the selectors' decision to not pick him in the T20 WC squad.

"Shubman Gill has that future superstar thing. He is doing good as well. You shouldn't have taken him in T20s (World Cup). The team that was picked was fine. It's okay. Sometimes, we tend to get too obsessed with that. Now he is a player. So, he should play in all three formats. There is no legitimate rule that he should play. He may make it," he added.

Talking about Shubman's T20 batting credentials, Chopra pointed out Shubman's breakthrough IPL 2023 season, where he scored 890 runs.

"IPL, he does it very well. He made 900 runs in a year. Had a great season with Gujarat. So, I mean, he is very young. He will figure it out. But if he doesn't go, it's okay. Rohit Sharma didn't play in the 2011 World Cup. It's fine. But now India's most successful captain," he added.