Why does so much hatred find its way towards Shubman Gill? Is it a function of too much (nearly) free Internet and too many morons? Is it jealousy and resentment of a good-looking and talented young man? Or is it merely a toxic fan culture where understanding of the cricket has taken a distant back seat to personality cults?
But for the unfortunate and unnecessary run-out, this should have been Gill’s fourth Test century in 23 Tests. His high failure rate has become a stick to beat him with. For a top-order player, an average of 32.30 simply isn’t good enough. But here’s the thing. Test cricket is a notoriously difficult stage for the beginner. Even the greats can take time to find their feet. That’s no platitude either. We only need to look at numbers for some of Indian cricket’s greats.
Sachin Tendulkar, an inspiration for generations, averaged 37.41 with four centuries in his first 20 Tests. Dilip Vengsarkar and Mohinder Amarnath, cornerstones of the line-up before the advent of Tendulkar, averaged a touch below 35 in their first 20. The number for Rohit Sharma, despite starting with back-to-back hundreds, was 35.40. VVS Laxman averaged 27 until his career-changing 21st Test at Eden Gardens all those years ago.
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Even Virat Kohli, who Gill gets compared to the most, averaged only 41 after 20 Tests. In the first few years of his career, Kohli had a real problem with maintaining focus. His first seven Test hundreds were all scores below 120. That wasn’t necessarily about switching off after a landmark, but a reminder that grinding out a score in red-ball cricket is a far greater challenge than finding the gaps with fielding restrictions in limited-overs cricket.
Teams have cottoned on to the fact that Gill is a hesitant starter. It’s frankly extraordinary that a player of his quality has been dismissed for 20 or less in almost half his Test innings. But he’s also fortunate that the team management, and selectors, clearly believe that he will eventually do justice to his potential.
What Gill has already shown in this series is the mental toughness to rebound from setbacks. Both his Vizag hundred and this 91 came in the second innings. The first set up the match for India. And here, the partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal helped push England towards the precipice.
The vitriol isn’t going to stop, and each Gill failure will be magnified. Each commercial or billboard that features him will be another reason to mock his dismissals. But as long as he retains the faith of those that matter, Gill and those who have Indian cricket’s best interests at heart can ignore the noise. Because, ultimately, it really is just that – a lot of empty vessels making noise.
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