Zimbabwe head coach Justin Sammons calls Shubman Gill ‘superb cricketer’ ahead of facing India

Harare [Zimbabwe], July 6 (ANI): Ahead of the first T20I match against India at the Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe head coach Justin Sammons heaped praise on Men in Blue skipper Shubman Gill and said that the 24-year-old is a ‘superb cricketer’.

Gill has played 14 matches for the Men in Blue in the T20Is and scored 335 runs at a strike rate of 147.58.

India’s squad will have a completely different look-up from the one that lifted the T20 World Cup last week in Barbados.

Following the retirement of stalwart batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and dynamic all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja from the T20I, the youngsters will have an opportunity to surmount their places in the shortest format of cricket.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Sammons said that he remembered when the Zimbabwe head coach saw Gill for the first time in 2024

“Shubman is a superb cricketer, I remember first seeing Shubman, I think I was with the Proteas. We were playing that Test series against India. I think it was December 2021. He didn’t get any game time there, but you could see his work ethic and how professional he was in the way he went about his business in the nets during that Test series was something exciting to watch. And like I say, his record speaks for itself,” Sammons said.

He also showered praise on Riyan Parag and called him a ‘dangerous’ player. The head coach said that Parag had a great IPL and showed his worth in the T20 tournament.

“We can see how dangerous Riyan Parag is. He had a great IPL, showed his worth there. Again, another exciting prospect for India. Again, it’s another opportunity for our guys to test themselves against the best,” he added.

India will play the first match of the T20I series on Saturday at the Harare Sports Club.