According to Hindustan Times, Gill had an incredible IPL 2023 so far and is the highest-scoring Indian batsman with a total of 576 runs in 13 innings and four fifty-plus hits.
The ardent cricket fans of the Indian team wondered who is next after Virat Kohli and although his maiden ODI century in August last year and his first Test ton although the match in December versus Bangladesh may not have started the discussion, Shubman Gill’s incredible 2023 led many to believe he is the rightful Kohli replacement. Gill has smashed six centuries across competitions in the last five months out of which three of those came in ODIs, including a record double ton against New Zealand, one in T20Is, where he broke the record of Kohli for the highest-ever score by an Indian batter, one in the Border-Gavaskar Test series and then again on Monday, Gill registered his maiden IPL ton.
In the last couple of IPL seasons, Gill has been impressive with his numbers having improved on moving from Kolkata Knight Riders to Gujarat Titans but the century was one milestone that eluded him long until the match at his beloved Narendra Modi Stadium against Sunrisers Hyderabad, where his score record was a 58-ball 101. He currently holds the record for the most runs scored by an Indian hitter in the IPL (2023), scoring 576 runs in 13 innings. So, according to all, India has found the next Kohli or Sachin Tendulkar. An IPL expert at Jio Cinemas, Veteran Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa, certainly believes that he has ‘got the stuff’. He also told Hindustan Times that he sees him having the potential of becoming someone as big as Virat Kohli or Sachin Tendulkar and is a phenomenal player who is currently playing some terrific cricket and is in exceptional shape.
He also added Rajasthan Royals’ Yashasvi Jaiswal to the conversation, predicting the two youngsters to be the next big thing if Indian Cricket Team. Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, according to him, are the two upcoming stars in Indian cricket. Some wholesale changes may be witnessed post-World Cup. IPL 2023 has marked some magnificent likes for Rinku Singh and Yashasvi, the most veteran cricketers who have called for their inclusion in the cricket team right after the tournament. Other legends like Suresh Raina and Kevin Pietersen have even called for Yashasvi’s inclusion in the ODI World Cup scheme of things which is being disagreed by Uthappa.
Such changes may disrupt India’s plans so close to the World Cup and rather back their selection after the tournament, as per the opinion of the former KKR, in November with an eye on the T20 World Cup in 2024. His knowledge of the Indian Team leads him to believe that they would stick with the seasoned players because making significant changes so close to the World Cup is never a good idea. They are already playing without Bumrah in the hopes that he will recover in time for the World Cup, but there may still be some injury issues that need to be addressed right now. The most area of concern is having KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant already out. Thus, Indian Cricket Team hopes to put out a fit team and give every player their best chance to win the Cup.
