Karnataka, September 4
Indian opener Shubman Gill said on Wednesday said that he is not satisfied with his performance in Test cricket.
Gill was speaking ahead of the Duleep Trophy opener against India B in Bengaluru, which will start from Thursday. Gill will be leading the India A team.
Speaking ahead of the competition, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Gill said that he has not performed in Tests as per his own expectations, but looks forward to performing in the upcoming 10-match long Test season, starting with Bangladesh from September 19, with two Tests and concluding with the highly-anticipated Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia from November 22 onwards. In between, India will also play three Tests against New Zealand at home, following the Bangladesh home Tests.
"Yes, definitely, I have not reached my expectations yet. But we have ten Test matches ahead of us back-to-back. So hopefully after these ten Test matches, I will be able to meet my expectations," said Gill as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
Gill, one of India's premier white-ball cricketers, shot to stardom with an audacious knock of 91 against Australia at the Gabba back in 2021, which helped India hand over a rare loss to Aussies at their fortress after over 32 years and secure the series.
Though his white-ball numbers stayed largely consistent since his days in the 2018 U19 World Cup winning team, Gill battled inconsistent form in the longer format of the game following this breakthrough series against Australia, in which he had scored 259 runs in six innings at an average of 51.80 with two fifties.
After poor performances during the tour to England, ICC World Test Championship final and the tour to South Africa between 2022 and early 2024, Gill's place in Test side was questioned.
However, with a fine series against England at home, he was able to shut all the outside noise. In six Tests and 11 innings this year, Gill has scored 498 runs at an average of 49.80, with two centuries and two fifties. His best score is 110.
In 25 Tests, Gill has scored 1,492 runs at an average of 35.52, with four centuries and six fifties in 46 innings. His best score is 128. The Punjab batter is a strong first-class cricket batter, with 4,034 runs in 52 matches at an average of 49.80, with 12 centuries and 18 fifties coming in 90 innings. His best score is 268.
Gill said that he is working on his "defensive game" especially against spinners, which helped him score well against England in the five-match series this year. Before this series, Gill's Test average was 30.59, but raised significantly after the series to over 35. The batter said that too many T20s can also affect a player's defensive game since they are playing a more attacking game.
"I worked on my defence a little bit more, especially against the spinners. Playing on turning tracks, if you are not able to have that confidence in your defence then it disturbs your game. If you are playing on a turning track, you should be able to defend a lot more. It is then you play scoring shots," said Gill.
"And with more T20 [cricket], and playing on, I would not say flat tracks, but [on] batting-friendly tracks - and more in the white-ball games - I feel it takes away a little bit of your defensive game over a period of time. So that was my focus in the England series," he said.
The young batter also revealed that he has never felt any pressure being part of India's leadership group at the young age of 24. He said that the responsibility of being a leader requires him to know his teammates more.
Over the last few years, Gill has had his share of leadership roles, be it being the captain of Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 due to Hardik Pandya's departure from the franchise, or leading a young Indian team to a series win against Zimbabwe away from home after the ICC T20 World Cup concluded in June.
"My role as a batsman does not really change. Even if I am the captain or the vice-captain, the aim is to get runs, make my team win, and contribute in any way possible," said Gill.
"If you are the captain or the vice-captain, then you should be able to understand your players a lot more than when you are just a player. Sometimes, it happens that you have played with a lot of these players since childhood. You have played a lot of age-group cricket together. So, obviously, you are already connected, and so it is more fun to play with them."
"And if you are enjoying your role in the captaincy, it is very important to lead with performance. So if you are getting all these things, then you enjoy everything," concluded the batter.
Revised squads for Duleep Trophy first round:
India A: Shubman Gill (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.
India B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (wk).