Shubman Gill has been in the form of his life, especially in white-ball cricket, over the last couple of months.
The India batter, Shubman Gill was also rewarded for his white-ball form with a place in the Test team for the third match against Australia.
Though Gill didn’t do much with the bat, he is still seen by many as the ‘future of Indian cricket’.
However, when Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne was asked about the ‘next batting superstar’, he snubbed Gill.
During a ‘You have to answer’ Q&A session, Labuschagne was asked to make a tough choice.
“Next batting superstar: Shubman Gill or Harry Brook?”, he was asked.
“Oh, Jesus! Harry Brook. I really like the way he bats. It can be an unpopular answer, but…”
Let’s analyse if these comments are justified.
Much like Shubman Gill, Brook has also turned heads with his performances for the England national team. However, unlike Shubman, the Englishman has been doing wonders in red-ball cricket.
In the four innings of the two Tests against New Zealand recently, Brook scored a total of 329 runs while also being productive with the ball.
Seeing the potential that Brook possesses, he was roped in by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad for a mind-boggling fee of INR 13.25 crore in the auction.
As for Gill, he has been backed by some of the stalwarts of Indian cricket to steer the team forward in the future.
Looking at a time when the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would no longer be with the Indian team, many see Gill as the batter who will take over the baton from the two superstars.
Harry Brook currently has an average of 80.90. This had reached over 100 during his innings of 186 against New Zealand. But came down once he was dismissed in the test match.
Harry Brook currently is ranked 16 on ICC Test Batter Ranking. He has a total of 665 rating to his name. This is his best rating so far in his career.
Harry Brook as of March 2023 has scored a total of 4 test centuries, and they have come against three different opponents. His first two centuries came against Pakistan and the latest test hundred came against New Zealand.
Harry Brook made his test debut in 2022 in a home series against South Africa.
And it was certainly not a debut to remember for the youngster as he was dismissed for just 12 runs in the first inning. In the second inning he didn’t even get to bat as his team managed to win by an 9 wickets.
However, three months later, he came back with a bang in the first test against Pakistan by scoring his maiden century in his very second innings.
It was a record shattering knock where he smashed a total of 153 runs in just 116 balls. For those who thought it was a fluke innings on a flat track, Brook returned with a bang in the second innings and scored 87 runs from 65 balls.
In the very next match of Multan, he scored his second Test Hundred by smashing 108 runs from 148 balls.
The 24-year-old has been hailed as the future of English cricket, and many stars have opined that Brook is going to be a global superstar with the way he is currently playing.
Former English captain, Mathew Vaughan tweeted “For the last 10 years, all kids have wanted to bat and be like Joe Root. For the next 10 years, they will all want to bat like Harry Brook.”
High praise indeed!
While it’s hard to predict the future, on the basis of current performances, Brook does have an edge over Gill.
