The young hitter has emerged as a contender to open batting with Mayank Agarwal in the first Test.
Not only does Shubman Gill expect some good old-fashioned chin music from the Australian rapids during the next four-round series, but he hopes to counter it with the “many moves” the Indians have in their arsenal.
Sledding, chin music, mind games, mental disintegration … Australia vs India contests have had a lot of all of that over the past two decades, and though both sets of players are said to have gotten too nice to each other. Lately, Gill is ready to answer when he needs it and is quiet when that is the best option.
“There are different types of characters. Sometimes you stay quiet and don’t respond, and you focus on your hitting, and other times you react. That depends on how you feel at the time. I’m not one to be silent all the time. but he’s not likely to say something every time as well. So it depends … We sled too. When teams come to India, we get involved, “said Gill, the 21-year-old first-order hitter. in an interview with kkr.in.
“Things could have been different before, and maybe some of our hitters weren’t as aggressive. [in terms of scoring]especially in test cricket. But now you get a result in almost every test match, so if they come to us with chin music, we have a lot of moves to deal with their chin music. “
Gill played both of India’s top-class preparation matches in the run-up to the first test, overnight in Adelaide starting on December 17, and was impressive in the second of them, scoring 43 and 65. Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw are the starters at that position, but with Shaw scoring 0, 19, 40 and 3 in his four outings in the two games on the tour, Gill has become a contender to join Agarwal at the top. Gill himself seemed to hint at exactly that with a tweet that read: “Days T-4 … get your popcorn ready!”
T-4 days … make your popcorn! pic.twitter.com/xq3e434zsY
– Shubman Gill (@RealShubmanGill) December 13, 2020
“It is quite intimidating to play Australia in Australia, but I really want to do it,” he said. “As a hitter, there is no greater opportunity than playing Australia at home, as your confidence gets a big boost if you can score runs here.
“As a hitter in Australia, your shots, punches and cuts give you the most runs. They get a lot of tackles with the new ball, they throw it straight up, so it tests your front and back foot play. “
Gill already played an international match on the tour, the third ODI, which India won by 13 runs; lost that series 2-1. But he has never played test cricket, and the last match of the tour was his first under lights with the pink ball.
“We practiced quite a bit with the pink ball in the run-up to the test match against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens last year (in November),” Gill noted. “I don’t have a specific opinion on whether the pink ball moves more (than the red one). But we will have to see, because we played with an SG ball last time (against Bangladesh). Know how the Kookaburra ball will react, how much it will move.” .
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