South African cricketing great backed India's T20I vice-captain Shubman Gill after he failed to score runs in the second T20I against Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne. Notably, Gill, who was appointed as India's ODI captain replacing Rohit Sharma ahead of the white ball series against Australia, also flopped in the ODIs. He managed to score 10, 9, 24 runs in three outings.
AB de Villiers backed Shubman Gill
However, De Villiers believes that Gill is also a human being and it's unfair to expect that the India Test and ODI captain will score runs every single day.
“There are good wickets in Australia. Maybe he’s not completely accustomed to the kind of bounce. There must be something, or he’s just human… We expect Shubman to score runs every single day," said AB de Villiers on his YouTube.
De Villiers explains why Gill unable to fire runs.
De Villiers further stated that Gill's poor batting show is more of a mental thing than technical because if he lacked the technicality, he would have sorted this out till now.
“So, maybe Shubman Gill is going through a patch like that, and he’ll work it out, guys. He’s a class player, class leader, and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that he will be back. I think it’s more of a mental thing than technical. If it’s technical, he’ll get to the nets and sort it out. I don’t see any reflex. Yes, the performance is not there in the recent and short-term past, but there is plenty of cricket ahead. Plenty to look forward to, and it’s just up to him to sort of freshen up,” he added.
India's performance against Australia
The first T20I between India and Australia was washed out due to rain, and Mitchell Marsh-led side defeated the Men in Blue by four wickets in the second clash to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series. The third T20I will take place on November 2.