‘He’s gonna be the next big thing…’ – Wasim Jaffer predicts star batter to become next superstar after Virat Kohli

Wasim Jaffer, the former Indian cricketer, made a bold prediction about the upcoming Indian star and said that the batter might become the next big thing in Indian cricket post the conclusion of the Virat Kohli era, although it is highly likely that the batter might reach the peak before Kohli retires. 

Shubman Gill, the Indian batter, scored his maiden century in the Test format on Day 3 of the first Test on December 16, Friday, which kicked off on Wednesday. Eventually, the right-handed batter is fast becoming India’s most reliable opener in the ODI and the Test format, although one could argue that he is yet to make his debut in the T20I format.

Jaffer opened up on the batter and said that Gill could well become India’s all-format batter at the earliest and lauded the youngster for his techniques.  Further, Jaffer highlighted that the talented batter played down the order in the domestic circuit for his state team and claimed that he could bat anywhere in the order. 

He’s a class player: Wasim Jaffer

Gill made his way back to the dressing room after gathering 110 runs to his name in the second innings and on the back of Cheteshwar Pujara’s century, India set a mammoth target of 513 to the Shakib Al Hasan-led Bangladesh team, eventually inching closer to the win. 

“Well, it’s good that it came. He missed out on a couple of opportunities before but I am happy that the monkey is off his back. He’s a class player. After Virat Kohli, he’ll probably be the next big batsman that’s gonna come out of the Indian camp. He’s like a three-format player for me,” Jaffer was quoted as saying to ESPNCricinfo. 

“Shubman Gill has played in the middle order for his state team. He’ll get used to it. As an opener, if you are slotted in the middle order, it’s not a big deal because you’re used to playing spin,” said the former Indian cricket further on Gill’s continued excellent form.