Indian cricket team batter Shubman Gill© AFP
Indian cricket team batter Shubman Gill said that he did not think about going back to opening the batting when he was going through a rough patch in his career. Gill, who slammed a brilliant century on Day 2 of the fifth Test match against England in Dharamsala on Friday, struggled to score runs before the ongoing series. With Yashasvi Jaiswal opening the innings with Rohit Sharma, Gill was given the No. 3 position and it took him some time to get accustomed to it. However, he bounced back brilliantly and has already scored more than 400 runs in the ongoing five-match Test series against England.
“When you don’t score, you tend to think a lot of times, which I was thinking. But going back to opening was not something that came in my mind,” Gill was quoted as saying to the broadcasters.
Gill also opened up about his superior average in the third and four innings in comparison to the first two innings in Test matches and explained how he paces his innings according to the situation.
“When I go out to bat in the second innings, I know what target I am chasing. I know how to pace my innings and how to go about it,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Gill’s first coach and father, Lakhwinder, says his son stepping out to the bowlers again has allowed him to get back among the runs in Test cricket though he doesn’t agree with his decision to bat at number three.
“He should have continued to open. It is not right at all I feel. When you sit in dressing room for longer, the pressure tense to increase. Number 3 is not opening neither it is a middle-order spot.
“Plus his game his not like that, it suits the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara who has a defensive game. When the ball is new you get more loose balls, when you come in after 5-7 overs, the ball is still shiny and the bowler is also settled with his length.”
(With PTI inputs)
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