Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen impressed by Shubman Gill's knock in the second ODI against England in Cuttack said that the youngster should have ideally scored a hundred like Rohit in the match.
Shubman Gill scored 60 off 52 balls and was involved in a 136-run opening stand with skipper Rohit in Cuttack. It was their seventh-century stand as a pair, one that laid the foundation of what was a rather easy chase.
Gill after struggling against the red-ball in the Australia tour made a good beginning in the ODI series against England. He made 87 in the first ODI in Nagpur and followed it up with 60 in Cuttack. Pietersen felt that the Indian vice-captain missed out on centuries in both the matches.
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HeWill Want To Keep Improving - Kevin Pietersen On Shubman Gill
He spoke about Shubman Gill's slight technical changes that has allowed him to be a better batter in recent times. KP felt that the right-hander does not have problems playing the short of good length deliveries due to his pick-up shot and backfoot punch.
"I talked about a trigger when you get into big boy's cricket and you face the faster bowlers. You need a set yourself and it's a start that he's now started to take when he's been batting. I think that it's improved the way that he's played. What makes it even more intimidating to bowl to, is his ability to just play that pickup shot, that little punch shot of the back foot, because a bowler can't just hover short of a length" KP said on Star Sports in the post-match show.
"What he's is get a full attack the top of the stumps or his bouncer has to be very, very good. So, he's improved this game. He'll want to keep improving, he'll wanna stop getting 60 and getting out. He'll wanna get the 100 like Rohit," Pietersen added.
Gill batted at number three in the first ODI in Virat Kohli's absence and switched back to opening the batting when Kohli returned in Cuttack. He looked comfortable in both the roles that he played in the first two games. Meanwhile, the Indian team has taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series with the third ODI to be played in Ahmedabad on February 12.
Also Read: Record Alert: Rohit Sharma crosses Chris Gayle's record of most sixes in ODIs
