"Give him time to find it please" - Kevin Pietersen compares struggling Shubman Gill with Jacques Kallis

Former England international Kevin Pietersen has compared Shubman Gill's ongoing struggle early in his Test career to that of South African legend Jacques Kallis, urging cricket fans to show restraint while criticizing the young Indian batter.

Gill scored 34 (46) in the first innings of the Vizag Test against England on Friday. He got out driving a ball away from his body against veteran pacer James Anderson. It was his 12th straight innings without a half-century which took his Test average to 29.65 in his 22nd game.

Taking to X, the England legend wrote:

"Kallis averaged 22 in his first 10 Tests and turned out to be arguably the greatest player to play the game. Give @ShubmanGill time to find it please. He’s a serious player! #INDvENG

Although Kallis averaged 22.67 after 10 Tests, the number rose to 36.63 in the next 12 games, where the Indian is currently in his career. On the other hand, the Indian started strongly and had an aggregate of over 50 after his first Test series, but the number has steadily come down since he hit his rough patch.

Shubman Gill might have one last chance to impress

Gill was lucky he wasn't the only one to fail to convert his chance on Friday. In fact, he was the second-best run-scorer of the day. India scored 336/6 but 179 of those came from Yashasvi Jaiswal's bat. Every other Indian batter on the other end got a start but threw it away with an extravagant and often needless shot.

The Gujarat Titans captain would compete with Rajat Patidar and Shreyas Iyer, who scored 32 (72) and 27 (59), respectively, for the one middle-order spot that would be vacant when Virat Kohli returns for the third Test.

Given the situation of the match and the flat nature of the pitch, it looked like we might see four or five days of action which means he would have another chance to make his mark. And this time, it might just be his last chance for a while.