Shubman Gill brought up his second Test century in Ahmedabad on Saturday on Day 3 of the final Test between India and Australia in the Border-Gavaskar series.
Gill’s splendid 128-run knock propelled India to 289 for the loss of three wickets at stumps on the third day of play in Motera.
The batsman has now scored five tons across all formats in the last two months and has hit a rich vein of form.
But it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the 23-year-old batter.
“There was phase in the middle when I was scoring 40s and 50s (52 and 44 against New Zealand in 2021) and getting out and when I played the one-off fifth Test in England, I scored some 20 odd (17) and I got out early in that innings,” Gill said at the presser after the end of play on Day 3.
“I got a feeling that as soon as I was getting set, I was getting over-defensive and over-cautious,” he explained.
“I was thinking now that I have got set, I will have to bat as long as possible. I was putting myself under too much pressure and that is not my game.”
“Once I get set, then I get into a sort of rhythm and that’s my game. So I had to tell myself that if I get dismissed while playing my natural game, then it is fine. But the problem was I was getting out playing the type of game that doesn’t come naturally to me,” the man from Fazilka said.
“If I get out trying to play a shot after getting set, I can accept that dismissal, because that’s a shot and my execution wasn’t proper. But if I get out playing a game which isn’t my style then it became unacceptable to me,” he revealed.
“So I had to tell myself that I shouldn’t put too much pressure on myself when a situation like this arises next time, that I must convert now that I am set. I needed to keep it a bit free-flowing. It was more about mental makeup and I focussed on that primarily.”
There has been a lot of discussion and debate about the type of pitched the hosts had prepared for the games in the Border-Gavaskar series as the first three games were wrapped up within the conclusion of three days as the spinners had a field day each time they went out to bowl in Nagpur, Delhi and Indore.
But, the wicket in Ahmedabad seemed different to the ones from the previous three games.
“I think on wickets like these, it is difficult to score runs fluently but it is also important that on these wickets you need to be positive and keep looking for those singles.”
Gill cleared the ropes in brilliant fashion as he picked up a loose one from Australian spinner Nathan Lyon, which he duly punished.
“Rohit Sharma just came and he was a little surprised. But I said that was my shot. If the off-spinner is bowling on a good wicket that we are playing now and the field is up and that was my shot and I was confident I will hit him for a boundary.”
“I think one of those shots that automatically develops when you play bouncer. I am used to playing bouncers with a plastic ball on cement surfaces and the balls which were a little fuller,” Gill elaborated.
“It developed as I practised it over and over again and it was more instinctive than anything else.”
Gill went on to express that one needs to back themselves up while playing on surfaces such as the one in Motera, saying “You have to remind yourself constantly that things are going well because there was a phase where we didn’t hit a boundary for the longest time and at that time, you had to tell yourself that its okay if you are not getting runs now but if you stick to your processes then there will be an over where you will get 2-3 boundaries.”
“So the process is not to lose patience, you can get out but also you might be able to get boundaries.”
India trail Australia by 191 runs at the end of Day 3 with Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja at the crease at 59 and 16 runs respectively.
Get the latest Cricket News here
Comments
0 comment