Shubman Gill, a talent that all the Indian cricket fans have seen growing in the past few years feels he has still not been able to reach the pinnacle in the longest format of the game. Gill who’s now taken over as India’s No.3 in Test cricket sees the upcoming ten test matches as an opportunity to get the best out of him and meet his own expectations.
His last test series against England at home was a roller coaster ride. Under immense pressure after some low scores in the longest format, he battled some key moments in the marquee series and fetched a couple of hundreds in the process. He even played a key role in getting India to a victory in the Ranchi test alongside the young Dhruv Jurel
With an average of 35 across 25 Test matches, Gill’s Test record is mediocre and falls far short of his First Class average of nearly 50. Gill is seen as India’s next big star, but his erratic Test career has left even him disappointed. “Yes, I’ve not been up to my own expectations ([n Test cricket],” he said on the eve of the Duleep Trophy opener in Bengaluru. “But we have ten Tests coming up together. Hopefully, after these ten Tests end, I’d be up to my expectations or more,” he added.
After beginning his Test cricket career as an opener, he gained the No. 3 place, which required a somewhat different strategy that has since been a work in progress. Although Gill acknowledges that the different demands of white-ball cricket have contributed to Test cricket’s off-color returns, he has been attempting to improve it.
“I worked on my defence a little bit more, especially against the spinners. Playing on turning tracks, you should be able to defend a lot more. Then you play scoring shots. With more T20 and playing on batting-friendly tracks in the white ball, I feel it takes away a little from your defensive game over a period of time. So that was my focus during the England series,” he admits.
India’s home test season will begin against Bangladesh with 2 tests, followed by 3 tests against New Zealand. India will then head over to Australia for one of the most anticipated Border-Gavaskar trophy which will consist of 5 games.
Gill has been given the responsibility of leading the India A side in the Duleep Trophy. The responsibilities of captaincy in a tournament like the Duleep Trophy which is peppered with India hopefuls all-around, he has his task cut out.
“Every match or every series you tend to learn more about yourself, whether you’re the captain or not. You tend to learn certain things about yourself, your game,” he said.
“More so if you’re captain, you tend to learn about other players as well. Because it’s important for the captain to have a connect with the players. If you want someone to give their 100 percent, you should have a connect with the players. You should know their weaknesses and strengths. In terms of that, there has been some change, there have been a lot more conversations especially if you’re the captain or vice-captain you have one-on-one conversations with the players.
“There’s nothing easy or difficult. You’d have played a lot of age-group cricket with a lot of these player so there’s a lot of fun. And if you’re enjoying the captaincy role as well and to lead by performance as well. So if these things are in order, you’ll be enjoying everything.”
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