New Delhi, May 9: Former India cricketer and legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar believes the main reason behind young India batsman Shubman Gill's poor form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 could be due to the pressure of expectation.
Gill scored 440 runs in 14 matches in IPL 2020 but this year the talented right-handed batsman struggled to score in all the seven matches he played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) before the tournament was the postponement of the domestic T20 league in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
Gavaskar (71) opined that Gill is just a 21-year-old kid and that the youngster should just relax and learn from the failures.
"I think what I feel about Shubman Gill is that suddenly, the pressure of expectation is getting to him. Before this, it was different. He was just a young promising newcomer, but now with the performances in Australia, the expectation is that he is going to score, and maybe that pressure of expectation is weighing him down," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
"He just needs to relax. He is just a 21-year-old kid. There will be failures and he has to learn from those failures. He's just got to open and play freely, without worrying about expectations. The runs will come if he plays his natural game. Trying to play across the line and trying to score off every delivery because of the pressure of expectation, he's actually getting himself out," Gavaskar added.