Shubman Gill, the promising Indian opener, is determined to make a significant impact in the upcoming Test season. Despite his impressive performances in white-ball cricket, Gill acknowledges that his Test career has yet to reach its full potential.
In preparation for the ten Test matches scheduled this season, Gill has focused on strengthening his defense against spinners. He believes that improving his ability to defend on turning tracks will allow him to play more scoring shots.
“I worked on my defense 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 said.
Gill’s performance in the home series against England earlier this year was his most sustained in Test cricket to date. He amassed close to 500 runs, including a century and two half-centuries. He hopes to build on that performance in the upcoming two-match series against Bangladesh.
The 24-year-old opener also spoke about his growth as a player and a person, attributing it to his experiences in the Indian team and his captaincy role with the Gujarat Titans in the IPL.
“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,” Gill said.
Gill emphasized that his role as a batsman remains unchanged despite being part of the leadership group. He believes that his primary responsibility is to score runs for the team.
The Duleep Trophy, which begins on Thursday, will provide Gill with an opportunity to adjust to the demands of red-ball cricket. He believes that the tournament will be a good competition, as he will be playing against some of his Indian teammates.
Gill also revealed that India pacer Prasidh Krishna will not be available for the opening round of the Duleep Trophy due to an injury.
