The England team faces much criticism after the crushing defeat to India at Edgbaston. After the victory in the first Test at Leeds, overconfidence took over the England team. The British made the mistake of underestimating the Indian batsmen and bowlers, and it cost them heavily. Especially, the English team did not have any answer to Shubman Gill, who scored centuries in both innings. Now ahead of the third Test at Lord's from July 10, former England cricketer Mark Butcher has said that if Ben Stokes' team wants to win, then they will have to find an answer to Gill. Gill's technically strong game and calm nature have made a great impression on Butcher. He believes that the Indian Test captain has easily taken Virat Kohli's number four position.
Butcher was impressed by Gill, Rahul, and Yashasvi.
Butcher, who is commentating in the ongoing Test series between India and England, is very impressed with Gill, KL Rahul, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. All three batsmen have scored centuries before the third Test starting at Lord's on July 10. Gill's brilliant performance includes three centuries, and he has taken his batting average from about 35 to more than 42 in just two Test matches. Butcher said that what Gill has done in his first series as captain is very special.
'There is a lot of pressure on the Indian captain...'
Butcher said, 'There is no such sport or team whose captains have to face the pressure that the captain of the Indian cricket team has to face when they are reviewed. There is no need to tell whether Gill is filling Kohli's place or Tendulkar's place.' 52-year-old former Butcher, who played 71 Test matches for England between 1997 and 2004, said, 'There is a lot of pressure in both captaincy and batting at number four. And so far, Gill has adopted it very easily. He looks very comfortable and patient.'
'Gill played technically very beautifully'
There were some questions on Gill's attitude and technique before the series, but the 25-year-old has put an end to this debate for the near future by scoring 585 runs in four innings. Butcher said, 'And technically, he has played very beautifully. So the series has started brilliantly. I mean, maybe he will have some records by the end of this series. He has already scored a lot of runs. So what does he have? He has already scored close to 600 runs in the series. It has been an incredible start.'
Butcher praised Rahul a lot.
Butcher said, 'England will have to find a solution for him in the middle order because when you get the first three or four batsmen out, it becomes a little easier to wrap up the lower order.' Butcher is very impressed with Rahul, who has performed well in both the top order and middle order in the batting order in the last 24 months. After the retirement of Rohit Sharma, the opening pair of Jaiswal and Rahul has become an instant hit. Butcher said, 'I have seen Rahul play, we go back to the 2021 series in England and he batted in the top order with Rohit.'
'Yashasvi is a once-in-a-generation player'
He said, 'So technically he looks very suitable for top order batting. It is a fact that he is now a long-lasting batsman. Hopefully his average while opening will go above 40 very soon because technically he is brilliant.' Butcher said, 'I love watching Rahul bat. And Yashasvi is a once-in-a-generation talent. Number three is a bit difficult for India. It was a bit difficult for Sai Sudarshan to find himself after the first Test. And now Karun Nair has had three or four failures during the series.'
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