WTC Final: Not Kohli or Jadeja, Fielding Coach Names This Player As “Complete Athlete”

WTC Final: The World Test Champion finalist- Team India is pulling its socks for the mouth-watering inaugural World Test Championship contest against New Zealand at Southampton, where players are chiselling hard under coaches’ supervision. In fact, this upcoming bamboozling five-day contest, whose action is slated to get underway from June 18, has infused an extra zeal in the players as they play the maiden edition of the prestigious ICC event.

As the young guns and the coaches are going an extra mile for the upcoming extravaganza, mentors have unravelled some intrinsic traits of the young guns. Recently, Team India’s fielding coach R Sridhar hailed the young Shubman Gill as a complete athlete.

WTC Final:

Hailing from Punjab, the youngster debuted for Team India in the Test during India’s tour to Australia 2020-21. Proving his excellence and might with the bat, he imprinted himself deep in the selectors’ mind. In the Australian continent, the 21-year-old won hearts with his fine timings and reflexes on the field.

Acknowledging the same, Sridhar in a chat with Times of India said,

“Talking about Shubman, I feel he is the most complete athlete I have seen. He is slim, tall, runs fast and has got good hand-eye coordination. On most occasions when a new player comes in – we know his strengths and weaknesses as we would have seen him play in the IPL or in India ‘A’. My job as the fielding coach is to make sure his mindset is in tune with the national team.”

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Gill, who often stands as a close-in fielder at silly point, naturally requires lighting reflexes. The coach poignantly highlighted the same and added “We also observe his hand-eye coordination, his reflexes, how good his hands are, his speed to the ball and ability to throw from the deep and ball sense.

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The prolific right-handed opening batsman rose to the limelight when Team India clinched 2018 Under 19 world cup where he was the vice-captain.

Gill’s rising performance in Australia soon saw a debacle in the Test series against England at the home but selectors still backed him up for the upcoming tour.

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