'Gill is trying to copy Kohli': Former India cricketer slams Shubman for mimicking ex-skipper’s style in England

With his continued brilliance and insatiable hunger for runs, Virat Kohli has taken the Indian cricket standards to a new high. The cricketer exuberates confidence and has been delivering excellence for almost two decades, and when leading, he expects nothing less from his team. All these factors make Kohli the perfect idol to be looked up to, and a copious number of cricketers from all over the world try to embody him as they seek a path to success.

As Kohli is in the twilight of his career, Team India is in search of a new alpha, and as per assertions, Shubman Gill can become the heir of King Kohli. Gill, who is backed by many to become the new superstar of Indian cricket, has been tagged as the “Prince of Indian cricket.”

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So far, the trajectory of Gill has been quite like that of Kohli. The batter has been brilliant with the bat in all three formats and has been appointed as the captain of the Indian Test team as well. However, doing things the Kohli-way has brought him to the end of a scathing flak.

Manoj Tiwary slams Shubman Gill

Gill has had a rocky start as the skipper of the Indian team. He has lost two of the three games in the ongoing series against England, and according to former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary, things haven’t gone his way so far because he is too committed to “copying” Virat Kohli.

“I don’t like the way captain Gill is going about things. I think he is trying to copy what Virat did last time. And as a result, it is not helping his batting,” Tiwary told SportsBoom.com.

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“Ever since he became a captain in the IPL, I have noticed that he is getting into an aggressive mindset, and having animated chats with umpires. It was unlike Gill. He doesn’t need to show that kind of aggression, and doesn’t have to prove anything.

“I know a captain should lead from the front, but this much aggression is not required. It takes your energy away.”

Tiwary urged Gill to enable his own style of captaincy and find other ways of being ‘aggressive’.

“He can stick to his style of being aggressive. It doesn’t mean that you have to always give it back verbally. Aggression can also be shown by winning Test matches. India could have easily led the series 2-1. Such aggression is not good for the game, especially from the captain of the Indian cricket team,” Tiwary said.

Seemingly referring to the episode that occurred on Day 3 of the Lord’s Test, when the Indian captain gave a mouthful to England opener Zak Crawley, Tiwary expressed that such behaviour does not put Indian cricket in a good light.

“I am not happy with the language and words that are coming in the audio when they are near the stumps. You are representing the Indian cricket team. I think this has become a trend, as previous captains have probably used such words to express their anger, but this needs to be controlled. If you use slang, the next generation will pick it up.”