'Very similar to Rohit' - Abhishek Nayar lauds Shubman Gill's captaincy after India's win vs Afghanistan

Shubman Gill and the Indian team returned to red-ball cricket in style as they defeated Afghanistan in the one-off Test at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Monday, June 8.

The skipper top-scored for India, slamming 126 off 177 balls. He hit 15 fours and one six during his knock, helping India post a massive first-innings total of 564/8 declared. The home side eventually won the match by an innings and 300 runs after enforcing the follow-on.

After the comprehensive win, former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar lauded Shubman and shared how he analyses a lot while preparing for a game. Nayar, who is the head coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders, went on to explain why Gill is pretty similar to Rohit Sharma as a captain.

"As closely as I know Shubman, he is a thinking cricketer. He is not a captain who makes decisions only on instincts. He does a lot of preparation. He watches the video of every batter and bowler. He tries to understand how to get them out technically," the former India all-rounder said.

"He makes his own strategies and game plans, whether it's the IPL or Test cricket. He has the confidence to tell the bowler what field to take and what ball to bowl, and that he would get a wicket. Very similar to Rohit because Rohit Sharma was also a captain who used to prepare himself a lot," he added.

About Gill the batter, Nayar said that the 26-year-old loves batting and is never satisfied with the number of runs he scores in a match.

"Shubman Gill has a love affair with batting. He is hungry for runs. He doesn't want to leave any opportunity where he can score runs. Whenever he gets out, no matter how many runs he might have scored, you would feel he should have scored more runs," Nayar said.

Gill's omission from T20 team for workload for ODI WC 2027

The former India all-rounder also opined that the added responsibility that comes with captaincy has brought out the best in Gill's batting.

"He will slowly show why he can be one of India's all-time greatest batters in all formats. He has a lot of time. He is technically very correct and is a thinking cricketer. Leadership has given him more responsibility for sure, but it's gotten the best out of him. People say pressure is a privilege, but he has made the most of that privilege," Nayar observed.