India vs Australia: Shubman Gill can play for the next 10 years, says Michael Hussey

Australian's legendary Michael Hussey praised debutant Shubman Gill, saying the 21-year-old can go on to play for India for the next 10 years.

After making his India debut in 2019 during a One-Day International (ODI) series against New Zealand, Gill made his Test debut during the recently concluded Boxing Day Test against Australia. He went on to score 45 in his very first innings in the whites, which was the third-highest score by an Indian debutant in Australia. In his second innings, Gill was unbeaten on 35 as he helped India seal the second Test by eight wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Tuesday.

"Shubman Gill what a classy player. Here's a player who can play for the next 10 years for India. He looks classical and maybe he should have played the first Test in the first place," Michael Hussey told ESPNCricinfo.

Gill, who made his First-Class debut not very long ago, in 2017, became the 297th Test player to represent India when he was included in the team for the Boxing Day Test. The young Punjab batsman has an excellent record in First-Class cricket, where he averages 69.11, which is the second-highest first-class average for a batsman to make a debut for India. Vinod Kambli averaged 88.37 when he made his debut against England at Eden Gardens in 1993.

After scoring 43 and 65 in the pink ball practice match, Gill was expected to play the day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval. However, his Under-19 World Cup winning skipper Prithvi Shaw was picked instead of him. Shaw not only performed poorly with the bat but also had several instances of sloppy fielding. As a result, he was dropped ahead of the second Test and was replaced by Gill.

India handed a Test debut to two players, the other being fast bowler Mohammed Siraj. The Hyderbad-based pacer had a memorable first appearance in the whites as he bagged five wickets, becoming the first Indian bowler to claim a five-for on debut in Australia. Hussey had some good words for Siraj too.

"Losing Mohammed Shami, I thought was going to really hurt India big time, but Siraj has come in and he's done a really good job; stepped in like he's been playing Test cricket for a number of years," Hussey added.