Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has thrown his weight behind young India batter Shubman Gill after he yet again failed to impress in the first innings of the second Test in Visakhapatnam. After a blistering start to his Test career, Gill’s average has falled to 29.5. In 21 Tests, he has scored just 1063 runs with two centuries and four 50+ scores in the process. However, Pietersen feels that the Indian team management should give him more time to settle, insisting that the youngster could go on to achieve big things like former South Africa great Jacques Kallis who also had a poor start to his Test career.

“Kallis averaged 22 in his first 10 Tests and turned out to be arguably the greatest player to play the game. Give @ShubmanGill time to find it please. He’s a serious player!,” Pietersen posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Kallis averaged 22 in his first 10 Tests and turned out to be arguably the greatest player to play the game.

Give @ShubmanGill time to find it please.

He’s a serious player! #INDvENG

— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) February 2, 2024

However, fans on social media slammed Pietersen for comparing Gill’s situation with Kallis, who is arguably the greatest Test player of all time due to his all-rounder exploits.

Here’s how Internet reacted: 

Bringing Kallis into this is absurd. Kallis brought value to his team with both bat and ball. Gill is only a batsman.

If Gill can be Kallis, ‘by your logic’, so can Sarfaraz, Shaw, and many others. Give everyone a run for 40 innings and see who has a better chance to be a…

— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) February 2, 2024

Comparing past players to current lot is not ideal. With the amount of cricket and players available, it’s best to go with format specialists. With the exception of 1-2 multi format players. Gill,Iyer should only be considered for white ball. Domestic/FC performers for tests.

— Pranjal Ganesh Bhadti (@Pranjal_Bhadti) February 2, 2024

How much time? India got serious talent in domestic circuit. Time to move on & try some youngsters

— Karthik (@vsk_says) February 2, 2024

Kallis could also bowl a few overs and was one of the greatest slip catchers. He did have more utility to deserve the backing. Having said that Gill is a special talent but Indian batting pool is a crowded space so there is only so much backing one can get

— Global.baba (@Globalbaba8) February 2, 2024

KP I understand that Shubman Gill should be given time, but let’s be brutally honest, he is no where close to Jacques Kallis…

— Praneet Samaiya (@praneetsamaiya) February 2, 2024

After managing just 23 runs in the first Test against England, Gill showed some intent before falling to James Anderson on 34. Gill has struggled to score runs ever since his recovery from dengue during the World Cup. 

His demotion to no. 3 in Tests, following Yashasvi Jaiswal‘s emergence as a reliable Test opener, also seems to be a work in progress.

Talking about Day 1 of the 2nd Test, India managed to put up 336/6 on the board with Jaiswal and Ravichandran Ashwin unbeaten on scores of 179* and 5* respectively.

The Vizag continued to witness Jaiswal’s prowess with the bat, his maturity to hold on to his end and keep the scoreboard ticking while stitching up small yet effective partnerships.

Jaiswal’s composure saw him have a fine balance between attack and defence. His 179* saw him score 17 boundaries and tonk five maximums which made England rethink their plans.

India stumbled thrice in the third session of the day with Rajat Patidar, Axar Patel and KS Bharat falling to England’s spin duo of Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir.

With ANI inputs