Kevin Pietersen: Shubman Gill was ‘very unlucky’ to miss out on India’s 2019 World Cup squad
Kevin Pietersen has picked out Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Shubman Gill as a player to watch out for in the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL).
Gill, Player of the Tournament at the 2018 Under 19 Cricket World Cup, has had a stunning start to his career. In first-class cricket he averages an astonishing 73.55 from 21 games, with seven hundreds and 10 half-centuries from 34 innings.
He has had a solid start in the IPL, averaging in the low 30s in 2018 and 2019, with four fifties from 27 games so far, and Pietersen says he “can’t wait” to see him in action again.
“It’s always exciting to watch some of the incredible young talent that comes out of India during the IPL,” the former England batsman said. “One that I can’t wait to see again is Shubman Gill, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders, the fourth-favourites to win this year’s competition in the latest IPL betting.”
Gill has played two ODIs thus far, but failed to impress, scoring nine and seven in two innings against New Zealand at the start of 2019. Despite that, Pietersen felt that Gill’s IPL exploits should have earned him a place in India’s 2019 Cricket World Cup squad.
“He is a young opening batsman who I thought was very unlucky to miss out on the India squad for the World Cup in England after a brilliant 2019 IPL. He averaged more than 30 as a 19-year-old during that competition.”
Pietersen waxed lyrical about Gill’s ability to play in a variety of ways, praising his “ability to turn it on and hit sixes at will”.
“I think he’s definitely somebody that we will be watching on our television screens for a long time,” he said. “He’s got all the shots. He can play classical cricket, but he has the ability to turn it on and hit sixes at will. He’s young, entertaining and I think he’s got a bright future.”
