Following his superb double century versus England, Indian captain Shubman Gill mentioned he had stopped enjoying batting as he chased runs. However, going back to basics and making slight changes to his technique helped him find the fun in his game again.
Gill scored 269 runs off 387 balls. He became the first Indian and Asian captain to hit a double century in a Test match in England. India scored a large 587 runs on day two of the second Test.
When asked if he worked on his technique before the series, Gill told the broadcaster, “Yes, I did. After the IPL and before this series, I did a lot of work on my game.
“I mostly worked on where I stood and how I moved at the start. Before this, I felt my batting was okay. I was getting scores of 30-35-40 often in Test matches. But I was missing that really sharp focus. Some say that too much focus can make you miss your best moments.
“So, in this series, I tried to return to my basics. I tried to bat the way I did as a kid. I didn’t consider that I had reached 35-40 runs, or about playing long periods. I just wanted to have fun batting.”
Gill’s score is the highest by an Indian batter in England, beating Sunil Gavaskar’s 221 at The Oval in 1979.
He said, Sometimes, when you don’t score runs strongly, you stop enjoying batting. You care a lot about scoring runs. I felt I had lost that in my batting. I was so focused that I wasn’t enjoying my batting much.
Gill’s score is also the highest by an Indian captain in Tests. It beats Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 254 against South Africa in Pune in 2019.
“Before lunch on day one, at tea, I had about 35-40 runs off 100 balls. I spoke to GG (Gautam Gambhir). I said, ‘I’m not scoring runs easily, even though I have many shots I can use.’ Also, the ball felt a bit soft, Gill said.
“In the last match, I scored more freely, but here it wasn’t as easy. Still, I believed if the wicket is good and I am settled, I should bat for a long time and not leave the match early.
“I learned in the last match that no matter how long you have been batting, the lower order can fall apart anytime in these conditions. So I tried to stay out there as long as possible. I wanted the bowler to get me out with a good ball, and I didn’t want to make mistakes. That was my way of thinking,” he said.
Gill captained Gujarat Titans to the playoffs. He got ready for the England Test series by practicing with the red ball during the IPL season in Ahmedabad.
He said, “The IPL setup, the white-ball setup, and what I wanted to do there were very different. So I thought starting my preparation early would help me when the series came.
Gill said it is hard to switch from one format to another.
It is tough. The way T20 is played now has changed the technique, setup, and mindset a lot in the last 4-5 years.
“Going from T20 to T20 is easy, but coming from T20 to Tests is hard. You practice one way with your team, and your instincts get used to that.
“It’s hard to control that and keep telling your mind and body to change. That’s why I began training for Tests during the IPL. That’s when I started preparing my mind and body.”
Indian pacers played well and brought England down to 77/3 at the end of day two. Gill said the key is to bowl in the right spots to make the batters frustrated.
“Once the ball gets old, it’s hard to take wickets. So, the more we bowl in one area and frustrate their batsmen, the better for us. Gill also spoke about India’s bowling strategy.
“We will try to make them score in only one area. It’s hard to control a batsman who can score everywhere… Our bowlers carried out their plans well.
“(The pitch) doesn’t do much for bowlers, but it does enough that a batsman can get out if he tries too hard. When the batsman tries something different, he is more likely to get out.
“So, we will try to frustrate them while they bat and not let them score wherever they want. I think that will be most important for our bowling,” he said.
