NEW DELHI: Although Shubman Gill is aware that his Test career has not yet reached the pinnacles of expectations, the right-hander is counting on a strengthened defense against spinners to make an impact in the ten conventional format matches that will be played this coming season.
In what may have been his most sustained performance in Test cricket to date, Gill amassed close to 500 runs in the home series against England this year.Now, he hopes to build on that performance in the two-match series against Bangladesh, which begins on September 19, where he will face a formidable line-up of visiting spinners.
“I worked on my defence a little bit more against spinners. You should be able to defend a lot more when you are playing on a turning track against spinners, then you can play the scoring shots,” Gill, who will lead Team A in the Duleep Trophy, said in Bengaluru on Wednesday, as per PTI.
“With more T20s being played…I won’t say on flat tracks but on batting-friendly tracks, I think it takes away a little bit of your defensive game. So, that was my focus in the England series,” he added.
Gill, 24, hasn’t yet lit up the Test arena, unlike in white ball formats where he is a force to be reckoned with. He expressed hope that things will change for the better as soon as possible.
“In Test cricket, my performance has not matched my expectations so far. But we are going to play 10 Test matches this season, and when I look back after those 10 Tests, hopefully, my expectations will be matched,” he said.
Gill underscored his developing maturity as a person and a player, a point he directly connected to his times in India team and to his IPL captaincy with the Gujarat Titans.
“Every match or tournament that you play, you look to learn more about yourself irrespective of whether you are captain or not the captain. More so because of the captain you will get to know about other players too. It’s important for the captain to have a connect with the players.
“You should know their strength and weaknesses. Yeah, there are some changes in me especially when you are captain or vice-captain and having those conversations,” he elaborated.
Does he face more pressure because he is a member of the leadership group, though?
“Not really extra pressure (being part of the leadership group). My role as a batsman does not really change, even if I am the captain or vice-captain. It’s all about scoring runs for the team,” he said.
Gill described the Duleep Trophy, which starts on Thursday in Bengaluru and Anantapur, as a great chance for him to adjust to the demands of red ball cricket in that context.
“This (Duleep Trophy) is a big tournament as every match is important for us. We are playing against some players whom we generally play with in the Indian team. So, we will get to see a good competition,” he noted.
Gill, who will start the season in Bengaluru against Team B, added that early discussions regarding workload distribution between players and management had taken place given the length of the season.
“There is definitely talk among the selectors and players about the workload. But I think everyone has played a lot of cricket to be able to understand what they need to do when they are playing the match, more so for the bowlers I would say.
“I am sure the bowlers had a conversation with the selectors about how they are going to manage their workload,” he said.
Gill also announced that India pacer Prasidh Krishna will not be available for the Duleep Trophy’s opening round.
“Prasidh Krishna is not ready for this match,” he said.
Even though Mysuru Warriors, the eventual winners of the KSCA Maharaja Trophy T20, recruited the Karnataka bowler, he has been recovering from surgery that he underwent in February of this year and decided not to compete.
In what may have been his most sustained performance in Test cricket to date, Gill amassed close to 500 runs in the home series against England this year.Now, he hopes to build on that performance in the two-match series against Bangladesh, which begins on September 19, where he will face a formidable line-up of visiting spinners.
“I worked on my defence a little bit more against spinners. You should be able to defend a lot more when you are playing on a turning track against spinners, then you can play the scoring shots,” Gill, who will lead Team A in the Duleep Trophy, said in Bengaluru on Wednesday, as per PTI.
“With more T20s being played…I won’t say on flat tracks but on batting-friendly tracks, I think it takes away a little bit of your defensive game. So, that was my focus in the England series,” he added.
Gill, 24, hasn’t yet lit up the Test arena, unlike in white ball formats where he is a force to be reckoned with. He expressed hope that things will change for the better as soon as possible.
“In Test cricket, my performance has not matched my expectations so far. But we are going to play 10 Test matches this season, and when I look back after those 10 Tests, hopefully, my expectations will be matched,” he said.
Gill underscored his developing maturity as a person and a player, a point he directly connected to his times in India team and to his IPL captaincy with the Gujarat Titans.
“Every match or tournament that you play, you look to learn more about yourself irrespective of whether you are captain or not the captain. More so because of the captain you will get to know about other players too. It’s important for the captain to have a connect with the players.
“You should know their strength and weaknesses. Yeah, there are some changes in me especially when you are captain or vice-captain and having those conversations,” he elaborated.
Does he face more pressure because he is a member of the leadership group, though?
“Not really extra pressure (being part of the leadership group). My role as a batsman does not really change, even if I am the captain or vice-captain. It’s all about scoring runs for the team,” he said.
Gill described the Duleep Trophy, which starts on Thursday in Bengaluru and Anantapur, as a great chance for him to adjust to the demands of red ball cricket in that context.
“This (Duleep Trophy) is a big tournament as every match is important for us. We are playing against some players whom we generally play with in the Indian team. So, we will get to see a good competition,” he noted.
Gill, who will start the season in Bengaluru against Team B, added that early discussions regarding workload distribution between players and management had taken place given the length of the season.
“There is definitely talk among the selectors and players about the workload. But I think everyone has played a lot of cricket to be able to understand what they need to do when they are playing the match, more so for the bowlers I would say.
“I am sure the bowlers had a conversation with the selectors about how they are going to manage their workload,” he said.
Gill also announced that India pacer Prasidh Krishna will not be available for the Duleep Trophy’s opening round.
“Prasidh Krishna is not ready for this match,” he said.
Even though Mysuru Warriors, the eventual winners of the KSCA Maharaja Trophy T20, recruited the Karnataka bowler, he has been recovering from surgery that he underwent in February of this year and decided not to compete.
