File photo of Shubman Gill© AFP
India’s Shubman Gill may be new to the international stage but he has already played some important innings which he will cherish for the rest of his life. One such performance was a 91 in the second innings of the fourth Test against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane in January 2021. After failing to perform in the first innings, Gill looked a completely different batsman in the same match. His crunchy stores against the fast bowlers as well as the spinners who came out to bat for the second time were worth a watch as he scored a remarkable half-century. in an interview to GQ IndiaGill reminisced about that Test and recalled specific strategies against leading pacers like Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc that paid dividends.
Gill revealed how the plan to play the pull shot specifically against Starc worked wonders “keeping in mind the short square boundary”.
“If you go back and look at that innings again, you’ll see that I didn’t pull Cummins even once. The pull shots were off Starc, keeping the short square boundary from that side. I thought Even if I get the top lead, it will clear the fielders and I will get boundaries because he was bowling at a good pace.”
He explained how carefully he batted against Cummins and instead attacked Starc, who ultimately “paid off” for him that day.
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“The range from which Cummins was bowling was huge, so I told myself to just try the pull shot against Starc and leave Cummins’ short deliveries alone. The idea was to hit every bouncer he could. Starc had sent that down, and it paid off for me that day,” he said.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s blistering innings of 56 runs and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 89 not out helped India secure the famous Gabba Test by three wickets.
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