Sunil Gavaskar shares what's 'weighing down' Shubman Gill; gives advice to young batsman

After his remarkable Test debut against Australia last year, all eyes were on Shubman Gill who was roped into Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Despite raising the stakes, the 21-year-old left fans disheartened after he failed to emulate his Test performance in the T20 league barely managing to reach a half-century in the 7 games that his team played in the series.

Former Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar however came to the defence of the young batsman talking about how the 'pressure of expectation' was wearing him down. "I think what I feel about Shubman Gill is that suddenly, the pressure of expectation is getting to him. Before this, it was different. He was just a young promising newcomer, but now with the performances in Australia, the expectation is that he is going to score, and maybe that pressure of expectation is weighing him down," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

Sunil Gavaskar also shared a piece of advice for Gill, urging him to relax and learn from his failures as they come. According to him, playing his natural game openly and freely could help him score the deliveries that he needs.

"He just needs to relax. He is just a 21-year-old kid. There will be failures and he has to learn from those failures. He's just got to open and play freely, without worrying about expectations. The runs will come if he plays his natural game. Trying to play across the line and trying to score off every delivery because of the pressure of expectation, he's actually getting himself out," Gavaskar added.

Shubman Gill in IPL 2021 

Mesmerising the cricketing fraternity, Gill on his opening Test debut in Australia had done wonders registering a knock of 91, 50, and other respectable numbers down under. The England series saw a slightly less fiery Gill who managed to achieve only one half-century during the Tests at home.

However, as he entered the IPL 2021 tournament, Gill seemed bogged down under pressure. The young gun only managed to register 132 runs in his name from the 7 games that he played for KKR in the 14th edition where he failed to make it to a 50. His average fell sharply to 18.85 with a strike rate of 117.85, his highest score being just 43 runs, which he hit against the Delhi Capitals.

Notably, the right-handed batsman had been exceptional in the previous season, where he scored 440 runs for his team at an average of 33.84.  As a member of the 2018 U-19 World Cup-winning squad, he was the highest run-scorer for India and was lauded as the player of the tournament, as well.