A team in any sport undergoes transition when one rising youngster takes over the reins from a veteran star. A rookie, who grows up seeing his/her idol in a sport, wishes to play like him/her and take forward his country. The same goes for cricket in India or any other country. From the likes of Ricky Ponting taking over the limelight from Steve Waugh; to Virat Kohli emerging as the modern-day best after Sachin Tendulkar's retirement. These stories tell that a sport keeps on getting great players.
India's cricket has achieved great heights, thanks to some legendary players. The fans enjoy the innings of these players as they cheer for their teams. Meanwhile, one question which surrounds the fans when these cricketers are in the second phase of their careers is that who will play like them in the future. Meanwhile, these comparisons are not only limited to fans as experts also put their opinions on that. India's star bowler Ravichandran Ashwin has also opened up on the player who can replace Virat Kohli after the batting maestro calls it a day.
Speaking on his YouTube channel Ashwin first quoted Wasim Jaffer and said, "Wasim Jaffer recently quoted 'Shubman Gill will be the next best batter after Virat Kohli." He then said, "See, we shouldn't compare saying next Virat Kohli or next Sachin Tendulkar. When we were wondering who will come next once Sachin Tendulkar retired, we got Virat Kohli. So, if you are wondering whether we will ever be able to find someone once Virat Kohli retires, we will surely find one," Ashwin said. The Indian bowler then revealed the name of the player who can replace Kohli. "That could well be Shubman Gill. I am not saying he is the one yet. He could be the one," Ashwin revealed.
The Indian spinner also heaped praise on the batting style of the youngster. "Shubman Gill is an upright, besides-the-line player. He can access the off-side freely against fast bowlers using his back foot. He leans well on the front foot as well. Gill is playing the inside out over extra cover as well. If you pitch it short, he has all the pulls from the front of the wicket to behind the wicket. He has got the game against spin too," Aswhin opined.
The Indian Cricket team is on its road to the 2023 ODI World Cup. It looks like the team is moving away from Shikhar Dhawan as an opener and going with players like Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan. Aswhin also opened up on this debate. Only when the Top 3 failed, we had problems in the past. Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli. We talk a lot about Rohit and Kohli, but Dhawan is a stalwart. He was silently doing his job. Will his place be a big void to fill for Team India?," Ashwin said.
“Should we go back to Shikhar Dhawan, or should we groom Ishan Kishan, who has just scored a double hundred? Instead of backing a player based on one huge score, we should see what the team requires. Which character will deliver under pressure? Which character will serve us for a long time?,” Ashwin added.
