Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt feels “cricket needs a player” like Shubman Gill, after the young opening batter smashed a double century in the first ODI against New Zealand on Wednesday. Gill smashed 208 off 149 balls and set up India’s 12-run win over the Kiwis at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. He became the youngest-ever double centurion in international cricket. Butt suggested that if Gill continues to play like this, he can become one of the greats of the game.

“I became a big fan of Shubman Gill ever-since I saw him playing in the Test championship final against New Zealand. His elegance and style in his strokes are really commendable. The only concern I had was that why isn’t he able to achieve a big score. But he played a very different kind of cricket yesterday. Very less people have such type of finish in their style at such a young age. I think he is one of his kind. I am not saying that he has achieved everything in his career but if he continues to play like this and work hard then he will be on the path where he will achieve greatness,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.

Butt also likened Gill to several greats of the game, mainly due to the elegance with which he bats in the middle.

“The kind of game he played yesterday, he proved that he is not only about power-hitting but can also play a responsible innings as he kept on losing the major players at the other end. Cricket needs player like him as these days the players are losing the kind of touch Sachin Tendulkar, Mark Waugh, Saaed Anwar, Jacques Kallis had. Cricket has lost its beauty, and the kind of innings he played is the real beauty of cricket,” he added.

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