Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has praised Shubman Gill for playing an important knock in Team India’s first innings of the third Test against New Zealand in Mumbai. He was particularly appreciative of his game against left-arm spin and the hard work he has put in on the sweep shot as well. However, Gill scored 90 runs off 146 deliveries as India were bowled out for 263 on Saturday, November 2.
During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, Chopra said, “It’s extremely important, firstly because of the way he played against left-arm spin. That’s an important examination for him. A sort of reputation gets created that left-arm spin is troubling him. Then you start finding patterns in that, the shortcomings come to the fore, and you think you have to work more on your game.”
“It’s difficult to work on your game in the middle of a series. You can go to the nets and try for long if there is a gap between two series. However, if you say in the evening that a new batter will emerge the next day, it doesn’t happen. So it was seen that he is trying to work on his game. He has put a little more effort on the sweep,” the former India opener further added.
During the same discussion, Aakash Chopra also stated that Shubman Gill puts additional effort into improving his game.
“I was also talking to him yesterday. He said that at times you play so much white-ball cricket that certain things that are important in Tests, you are unable to do enough repetitions of those. You are unable to make them a part of your DNA through repetition, it doesn’t become second nature. So for that, you will find that he even bats extra. He was batting in Bengaluru after the match. He was doing that here as well after coming in the morning. The new things he is trying, whether it’s the sweep, he is trying that they at least become a part of his muscle memory. The bat used to be beside the pads and the ball was hitting the pads,” he again added.
“Gautam explained to him that the bat needs to be kept in front. This was in the Pune Test and he had to work on it after that. It’s not easy. It’s part of muscle memory. Gautam is short-statured, it’s easy for him to keep the bat in front, but it’s not the case for Shubman. I still feel Shubman Gill needs to work a little more,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
