Reflecting on India's ODI series triumph over hosts New Zealand, former India captain and IndiaTV's cricket expert Sourav Ganguly has expressed his desire for India to include teenage sensation Shubman Gill for the rest of the tour including the 2 ODIs and 3 T20Is left to be played.
On IndiaTV's cricket show, 'Cricket ki Baat' Ganguly said that the promise that Gill has shown so far in his young career makes him an exciting prospect for the Men in Blue and given a chance he could prove to be a great asset for the team at the marquee tournament.
"I think they should play Shubman Gill. He certainly deserves a chance in the team. He should play the rest of the series. Who knows, India might get another good player for the World Cup," said Dada in an exclusive chat.
Indian captain Virat Kohli who is set to enjoy a well-deserved rest for the rest of the tour after leading India to the series win has also applauded Gill's talent by saying that he "wasn't even ten per cent as good a batsman as Gill is at 19."
Commenting on the captain's statement Dada felt that it's a great gesture from a captain to sing such high praise for a young teammate.
"Virat Kohli has also said that he didn't bat like Gill when he was his age, which is a great thing to say for a captain," opined the 113-Test veteran.
"Shubman again is a very exciting talent," Kohli had said earlier after the series win in Mount Maunganui.
"I saw him bat in the nets and I was like wow I was not even ten per cent of that when I was 19.
"That's the confidence that they carry and it is great for Indian cricket if the standard keeps going up and the guys coming in can make impact performances straight away and we would be more than happy to give them the chances and help then grow."
Shubman, whose batting is a mirror image of Kohli, was part of India's U-19 World Cup winning team. He had scored 418 runs at the ICC event last year batting at number three to be adjudged the Player of the Tournament.
(With PTI inputs)
