Shubman Gill's technically sound game and serene temperament has left quite an impression on former England opener Mark Butcher, who feels the Indian Test captain has taken ownership of Virat Kohli's number four spot quite comfortably despite the "enormous scrutiny".
Butcher, who has been commentating in the ongoing India-England Test series, has been left in awe of the visitors' batters especially Gill, K L Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal. All three go to Lord's for the third Test starting July 10 with hundreds against their names.
Gill's staggering performance includes three hundreds and has catapulted his average into the 40s from mid 35s in just two Tests.
Speaking to PTI, Butcher said what Gill has done in his first series as captain is beyond special.
"There aren't many jobs in world sport that come with as much pressure and scrutiny as being Indian cricket captain, right? Not to mention you're filling in Kohli's spot in the order, or Tendulkar's spot in the order (both held number four spot).
"So the pressures were enormous. And so far, he's taken to it like a duck to water. He's just looked very, very comfortable, very serene in terms of his temperament," said the 52-year-old, who played 71 Tests for England between 1997 and 2004.
There were some questions over Gill's temperament and technique ahead of the series but the 25-year-old shut that debate for the foreseeable future with 585 runs in four innings.
"And technically, he's played beautifully as well. So what a great start to the series. I mean, he might have some records in his side by the end of it. He's passed enough already. So what's he got? 600 already in the series. It has been an incredible start.
"And England will have to come up with an answer for him in that middle order, because they obviously feel, that you get past the top three or four...and then there are bounties to be had a bit further down the order,” he said referring to India's brittle lower-order.
Love watching KL Rahul, Jaiswal obsessed with batting
Butcher eyes widen while talking about Rahul, who has performed well at both up and down the batting order over the past 24 months.
Following Rohit Sharma's retirement, the opening pairing of Jaiswal and Rahul has been an instant hit.
"Every time I've seen KL play, so we go back to the 2021 series here in England, and he batted at the top of the order with Rohit," said Butcher.
"So technically, he just looks very, very suited to top-order batting, really. And the fact that he's now going to have a long run, hopefully, in that position, his average will go upwards of 40 very, very quickly because technically he's fabulous. He's a great player to watch.
"I really love watching him bat. And Jaiswal is just a generational talent. The number three thing is a little bit sticky for India. It was a bit harsh on (Sai) Sudharsan after the first Test for him to find himself on the outside. And now Karun Nair's had, sort of three, four failures over the course of the series."
Butcher said India must decide on a number three and stick to him for a while.
"...you have to kind of make your choice and stick with it for a while because clearly, facing the new ball is difficult. People are going to get out for low scores. But you have to make your decision on who you think is the guy that's going to fulfil that position." On Jaiswal, Butcher said that he has an apparent weakness against the short ball into the body but he has somehow dealt with it effectively.
"Jaiswal just loves batting by the looks of it. I was talking to Kumar Sangakkara about him, obviously knows him from time at the IPL. And he just says he's obsessed by batting and scoring runs.
"And he does it in a beautifully pleasing way. For somebody who's so young and so relatively inexperienced to sort of look as comfortable at the top of the order in all these different conditions, is magnificent.
Is his short-ball play in need of improvement?
"Yeah, possibly (he has a short ball weakness). It hasn't cost him his wicket as yet. But it'll be something that he'll work on, I'm sure. And England have had a little bit of success against him around the wicket as well," he pointed out.
"But as I've said, he's so sort of obsessed with batting and with improving. I'm sure he'll come up with an answer for it," said Butcher.
Butcher the musician and songwriter
Besides cricket, Butcher loves his music that includes song-writing. He draws inspiration for his music from the happenings in the world. One of his albums was inspired by experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Does he love his music more than cricket?
"I've been very lucky. Since I was 17 years old, I haven't had to do what I would class as a proper day's work. I've been a cricket player, musician, songwriter, commentator. And all of those things are passions of mine. I love them all equally.
"And I've been very fortunate to have made a living out of doing it. I'm touching wood that I'll continue to do that until I can no longer," added Butcher.
