IND vs SA 1st Test: 'Shubman Gill Is A Big Question Mark', Dinesh Karthik's Brutal Assessment On Opener Is A Must-Read

Shubman Gill is going through a lean patch at the moment, especially in red-ball cricket. His returns with the bat have been very low of late and it puts his place in the lineup at danger with so much talent waiting in the wings. Here's a revealing stat: in last 16 Test innings away from home, he has scored just 310 runs at an average of 21.33 with the best score of 100 which came against lower-ranked Bangladesh.

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Gill scored 2 and 26 in two innings of Centurion Test, which was his first outing in whites in South Africa. The pressure continues to build on the new India No 3 as he took place of Cheteshwar Pujara, who cans still make a return to the national team. Not to forget, the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran are in the queue, hungry for a chance.

Indian wicketkeeper and batter Dinesh Karthik feels that time has come for Gill to shine in the next Test vs SA or get dropped.  The RCB player said that Gill has become a question mark in the team and must perform to justify his place in the Test side. 

"Shubman Gill is the big question mark here. He has not lived up to the expectations that people have. I think even he would be aware that if you are going to average mid-30s or early-30s after having played 20 Tests, then you would consider yourself to be a bit lucky to be around. His place will definitely be under the scanner if he doesn't have a great Test match in the next one,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.

Gill's form is crucial for India. He has got the backing from the management led by head coach Rahul Dravid but series of poor performances will hurt him in the long run. The time has come for the emerging batter to put on a show in Cape Town in the 2nd and last Test of the series which starts on January 3. It could be the new start in new year for Shubman, who started off his Test career with a brilliant show in Australia on the our of 2020-21.