As India took Sri Lanka to the cleaners in yesterday's ICC World Cup fixture at the Wankhede Stadium, Ravi Shastri - who was in the commentary box back in 2011 - was reminded of the Sachin Tendulkar-Virat Kohli equation, seeing Kohli team up with a young Shubman Gill to post a solid 189.
Speaking to Star Sports, he said "Gill is Gen Next. Tendulkar, when he walked out in that 2011 World Cup, there was some words exchanged with Kohli, who walked in next, on what the pitch was behaving like. Then today we see Kohli and Gill batting together, that is Gen Next. After these guys leave, he is the king", as per Hindustan Times.
Nasser Hussain, ex-England captain, was in agreement, and admitted that Gill managed to score runs comfortably at the start of the innings when the conditions at Wankhede were tough.
"Shubman Gill is going to be around for a very long time. He, like Rohit, makes batting look really easy. And as Ravi Shastri was saying and Shreyas Iyer said in his interview, it wasn't easy upfront. The ball was stopping and sticking, but he made it look so easy and comfortable. He is going to be the superstar for many years", he said.
Just as Kohli was touted to be Sachin's successor, when he walked out as a 22-year-old all those years back to chase down a 275 by Sri Lanka, many believe Gill to step into Kohli's proverbial boots.
In 2011, Sachin was dismissed for 18 leading Kohli to come in, and the legend had spoken to the then prodigy before heading off the field. Shastri was reminded of this, seeing Kohli and Gill on the pitch, yesterday, where the now-veteran managed 88 off 94 balls and the young star clinched 92 off 92 deliveries.
India put up a strong 357 and bundled Sri Lanka at a meagre 55.