On Pujara’s turf, eyes on Gill
History shows India’s most successful No.3s have been orthodox innings builders, but India want to play its cricket differently
By playing a competitive club match in Mumbai just before the Ranji season. I just love this game. I am passionate about it. I got a hundred in that match against Dhawal Kulkarni, Sandeep Sharma, Shams Mulani and Shivam Dube. My club team was weaker against the opposition. So, I wanted to ensure I put my best foot forward and we won the match.
I am saying this because that’s exactly why I play for Saurashtra. I want us to qualify for the Ranji knockouts. It’s about having the same passion whether it is Saurashtra, Sussex or my club. Obviously, there is different pride playing for the country. But you keep continuing the hard work. Try and follow the same routine.
For a cricketer, new peaks keep coming. It’s about working on your game, refining it. For the last one-and-half years, I have been working on my sweep shots, my reverse sweep as well as lofted shots. There are times in Ranji when you encounter tough pitches, where teams are bowled out for 150-200 and the matches finish in two-and-half days. That’s when it doesn’t matter whether you have played 100 Tests or have 10,000 Test runs, you are bound to get out. That’s when you need some unorthodox shots. And it’s paying off. I have seen results for me this season on difficult pitches.
It is only for rank turners. I have seen a little bit of recent Test cricket. On a normal Indian track, you don’t need fancy shots. There are certain pitches where even if you are the world’s best batter, you are bound to get out at some point. That’s when you need them.
Definitely. The way I have been batting and keeping up with my fitness, I am very confident. Scoring runs in Ranji Trophy is not a piece of cake, even though people may want to say it. There is no DRS and decisions don’t always go your way. To keep scoring one has to work hard and be at the top of the game. I hope I will be able to continue to contribute at whichever level I get an opportunity.
I enuinely feel that age is just a number (he just turned 36). You have the example of James Anderson who is bowling fast at 41 and is still England’s best bowler.
Novak Djokovic recently said that 35 is the new 25. Dynamics of the game is changing and players are getting fitter. I don’t think age is any longer a barrier. Particularly for players who play only one format, which I think has helped me. If I am playing only Tests, I can maintain my body better. You just have to keep working on fitness. That holds true even if you are a 25-year-old.
I think it’s a perception. My batting is always based on conditions. On pitches in India that are good, I don’t take time to get to 50s. It’s only in England, for example, when the conditions demand that the new ball has to be respected. That’s the traditional way of playing Test cricket.
Now England is playing more attacking cricket, but that’s on certain pitches. Also, the Dukes ball doesn’t have the same movement now.
Earlier, cricket in England was a lot different. It’s easy to say that the game is moving and people are playing a lot more shots. But the pitches allow that now. You can’t do that in South Africa.
I need to understand my strength and that’s how it will help the team. It will help whoever is walking in to bat after me. When I score well, it would help the team. And in cricket, I believe it’s more important to win the game rather than think about how you play. If you are playing positively and bringing success to the team it’s fine. If not, there’s no point in saying proudly that we are playing positively. There are many ways of playing the game. (MATCHES: 135) (95)
For 29 Test innings, Shubman Gill opened the batting for India and did okay — averaging 32.37, hitting two centuries and charming the world with the sound of his bat. A decent run in Australia was followed by a tough tour of England. But while he accepted the opening position to kick his career off, he soon realised that he wanted to bat lower down the order... at No.4 if possible.
With Virat Kohli ruling the roost at No. 4 currently that wasn’t going to happen, so Gill took his next preferred slot at No. 3.
On most days, Gill has the shots to own the stage. Yet, when your technique is tested threadbare, (43) (49) which can be an everyday occurrence in Tests, and runs dry up, you sometimes just want a place to hide. For the first 10 innings at his new batting position, Gill did not even have a fifty to his name. It didn’t take long for suggestions to change in his batting position.
With pressure piling up, it was providence that helped him turn the tide in the second innings at Vizag. After surviving two close calls and a dropped chance, Gill’s 104 was as much a reaffirmation of his talent as it was a message to his doubters: he wasn’t going to run away from a fight.
Without the comfort of Kohli’s presence, Gill won’t have it easy when he takes guard on Cheteshwar Pujara’s home turf on Thursday. At Rajkot, India’s middle order will have a decidedly inexperienced feel with Rajat Patidar, one Test old, and likely debutant Sarfaraz Khan. The remaining Tests in the series will be a thorough test for Gill; much stiffer than perhaps leading an IPL franchise for the first time.
Why did Gill want to move away from opening? Was it (34) (23) because he did not want to spend the rest of his Test career facing the new ball? “There is not much difference (opening to No 3). It takes just 1 ball for a No. 3 to go in. And sometimes when an opener gets injured, a No. 3 has to walk out and open,” Rohit Sharma spoke in South Africa. “Gill has batted in the Ranji at No. 3 and prefers to play there.”
For India, the move from Pujara to Gill wasn’t just about change in personnel for form and runs. The batting star was taking over from a genius in defensive play.
It is a change in the batting philosophy for Indian cricket. With Pujara not recalled despite the stuttering performances caused due to injuries and poor form, the move may be a more permanent one. The man administering the move was none other than Rahul Dravid and no one owned the No 3 spot in Indian cricket like he did.
Gill is more VVS Laxman than Rahul Dravid; more Ponting than Pujara. Plenty of pundits like Ian Chappel had kept reminding Dravid through the course of his long Test career about the upside of adopting a more attacking approach. There were times when the team looked to VVS Laxman – most famously in 2001 at Kolkata against Australia – but that was a tactical play and never a permanent shift.
Dravid became battle-hardened and was exceptionally effective in the position. He was the cover India needed in tough conditions. The man who would bat time. The man who would stand tall.
In fact, through the history of Indian Test cricket, the more successful No 3 batters have been rather boring than spectacular. The steady approach was the preferred one. Before Dravid, there was Sanjay Manjrekar. Go further back in time and Mohinder Amarnath did duty in the position, as did Ajit Wadekar. Dilip Vengsarkar (24) possessed the elegance in stroke play, but he was equally successful at No. 4.
But the decision to have Gill bat at No.3 also reflects how India wants to play its Test cricket moving forward. If Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal get off to a flying start, they want Gill to play his natural game and keep up with the scoring rate.
No other team exemplifies the gains of this positive method than India’s current opposition – England. Ironical as it may be, it was Brendon McCullum who as coach looked past Gill at Kolkata Knight Riders saying, “if you can’t change the man, change the man”. As England coach, McCullum has changed Ollie Pope’s batting approach. Zak Crawley won’t be turning back to his old game either. And Joe Root believes the change has been positive.
When Pope entered the Test scene, he was tipped to be the next Ian Bell, classy and technically sound. Cut to the present, he is playing reverse sweeps at will against the most seasoned Indian spinners.
“I definitely feel like I’ve added something to my game that I knew I sort of had it, but I needed to prove it to myself,” Pope told reporters on Tuesday. “I wasn’t doing a lot very well in the last (India) trip and it kind of showed me that the rewards you get, if you can change your game.”
Pope’s 196-run epic at Hyderabad won them the Test match. But England’s new No 3 says, Bazball isn’t just about going after the bowling. “It’s about absorbing first when we need to absorb pressure and then when we feel like we’ve got a good time to put pressure back on the bowler, you’re 100% backed in the change room,” he said.
For Gill to truly succeed at No.3, he must mix caution (of the variety that Dravid and Pujara excelled in) with aggression (that comes naturally to him) and emerge as a batter who will redefine the position in his own way. It won’t be easy but if Gill gets going, it sure will be fun. (25) (7)