Legendary South African cricketer AB de Villiers is quite pleased by young Indian batsman Shubman Gill’s magnificent hundred in the second innings of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam.
Gill’s hit of 104 enabled India to set a difficult goal of 399 for the visitors. Given that England reached 292 in their fourth innings, De Villiers feels Gill’s effort was game-changing for India.
In a video on his YouTube account, AB de Villiers said the following regarding Shubman Gill’s hundred:
“He (Gill) came to Vizag and just showed the incredible character that the young man has got. What an incredible player. I don’t know if he has worked on his technique at all or has anything changed, but it just shows you the talent he has got. In the second innings of a big Test match, that was a telling hundred and let me tell you, that was the difference between the two sides.”
AB de Villiers
Shubman Gill admitted after the game, when appearing on Sports18, that he was under some pressure heading into the second Test because of his own expectations. The century will undoubtedly give him confidence that he can be successful at No. 3 in Test cricket.
AB de Villiers on Zak Crawley’s LBW dismissal
AB de Villiers also believed that England captain Ben Stokes was justified to be upset with opener Zak Crawley’s LBW decision in the fourth innings chase.
De Villiers believes the ball would have just clipped the stumps and that the technology was incorrect in assuming Kuldeep Yadav had trapped Crawley in front. On this, he said:
“I am looking at it now and I feel it is not hitting the leg stump (Crawley LBW). It might just clip or touch the outer part of the leg-stump, which ultimately would be umpire’s call. Technology has made decisions more accurate, but they need to make sure that the cameras are right in line with the middle stump at both ends and not at an angle. Ben Stokes was a little bit upset and rightfully so.”
AB de Villiers
Zak Crawley looked terrific for 73 and was obviously disappointed when the LBW decision went against him. AB de Villiers went on to say that if Crawley had stayed around for a little longer, the game may have been much closer.