Star India batter Shubman Gill had challenges to work on when he started the Test series against England and the most important was to return to form with the bat, as his form dropped when he came to bat at the No. 3 slot. Three Tests into the ongoing five-match rubber, Gill has scored 252 runs at 42 with a match-winning 104 at Visakhapatnam and a classy 91 at Rajkot as well.
“It is a bit tough (living up to his own expectations). When people from outside talk about all those things, it did not make much difference to me. But the expectations that I kept on myself made me a bit disappointed,” Shubman Gill said in a press conference here on Wednesday. “You will definitely have some expectations on you as to how you want to play for the team, the country. But I don’t think that has changed my mindset. I still have the same set of expectations for myself. It is all about how you are able to forget them and move on quickly and be ready for the next challenge. That is the difference between a big player and an average player.”
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However, Shubman Gill could not score a half-century in 11 continuous innings, which also included the Hyderabad Test against England last month as well. Meanwhile, Gill said batting at No.3 gave him with a different task even though he had batted in that slot in domestic matches earlier as well.
“I have batted at No. 3 and No. 4 for India A and in some Ranji Trophy matches, and as such, it was not something that I have never done in my life. There are not many technical changes that I had to make to my game. But it is different when you open the innings because you don’t get that much time to think as you are going right in after the toss. You are the one who is setting the tone.” Gill said playing in the middle-order made it mandatory for him to bat as per the situations. But when you bat at three or four, there is a certain situation that you have to bat at. If a couple of wickets have fallen early, then you are setting the stage. When you are opening then you are dictating the terms, but in the middle-order you will be playing according to the situations,” he again shared.
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“I would not have played any differently even if I was feeling any calm or composed (in Vizag). But definitely, what I was feeling at Vizag was a bit different from what I was feeling in the earlier matches for India (in terms of the match situation). But in Rajkot, the situation was different, we were in a very good position, leading by some 300 runs. So, keeping that in mind, it was a much calmer and composed innings.” Indian batters’ failure to kick on after getting a start was a major reason behind their defeat in the first Test. If you look at the first Test, a lot of players had got the starts. They played almost 50 balls and there were 80s and 90s. All the batsmen had the opportunity to make a big score but unfortunately, they did not get a big one. So, we had a chat and the point was if a batsmen get set and make a big score like 150 or 200, then it makes a big difference to us and the opposition. It will be good to score runs in the first innings because in India batting gets tough in fourth or fifth day,” Shubman Gill concluded.
