India vs Australia Gabba Test, Shubman Gill: Admitting that the fall of wickets at the other end in the Adelaide Test has had an impact on the batting, Shubman Gill on Friday expressed hope that the Indian batting group will now look to do well in the first innings of what is “effectively a three-match series”. . Gill could not play the first test due to a finger injury. He scored 31 and 28 runs in both the innings of the pink ball Test in Adelaide. Despite looking in rhythm at the crease, he could not convert a good start into a big innings. India lost this match by 10 wickets.
Gill said on the eve of the third Test of the five-match series, “As a batting unit, we would like to score a big score in the first innings. We have discussed about it and every batsman has his own plan.” The Indian team could score only 150 runs in the first innings of the first Test played in Perth and 180 runs in the first innings of the second Test in Adelaide.
Gill said, “As a batsman, I still have the freedom to play my own way. The main challenge for me is to be able to bat in my own way without being influenced by the other end and the scoreboard.” He said, “What happened at the other end in the last Test affected my batting in the first innings. I take responsibility for that on myself.”
At one time in the first innings of the Adelaide Test, Gill got a chance to face only one ball in four overs, which affected his batting. He said, “There was a time in that match when I did not get a chance to face many balls, maybe only one ball in four overs. Then I faced a ball which I completely failed to judge. These were those challenges. You may not face a single ball for four overs or you may face 18 balls in a row.”
India has scored less than 150 runs in an innings at least six times in recent Test matches. Gill admitted that this figure has not had much impact on the batting group. He said that now this is a three-match series for his team. Gill said, “We did not perform well in the Adelaide Test but the series is still tied at 1-1. We will take it as a three-match Test series and if we win it, it will be beneficial in Melbourne and Sydney.”
Gill got lost in old memories as soon as he stepped into Gabba for the first time after the Test played here in Australia in the last round (2021). He laid the foundation of India’s historic victory by scoring 91 runs in the fourth innings. He said, “Coming to the stadium after 2021 with the team, it is definitely bringing back a lot of old memories.” Captain Rohit Sharma did not attend the optional training session and when asked about his absence, Gill said, “It was an optional session and he has already practiced a lot.”
Former great batsman Sunil Gavaskar had pulled up the players for not participating in the optional practice sessions between matches. Gill said that the pitch at Gabba will be better for batting and the Indian team will perform well here. He said, “It is a bit difficult to test the seam with the bowler’s hand in the pink ball Test, especially when you are playing at night. We are used to playing with the red ball during the day compared to the pink ball Test.”
Gill admitted that Australia’s pitches are not very difficult for batting. He said, “The conditions are a bit challenging but from 30-35th over till the arrival of the second new ball (81st over) it becomes easier to bat.” Gill said that there has not been much change in Australia’s bowling attack for the last several years, hence mental strategy matters more than skill here.
The Indian batsman said, “We have played against them a lot and there have been only minor changes in their Test team in the last five-six years. Both the teams know which areas we are going to target each other. We I knew what kind of challenges there would be and hence in a series like this, mental strategy is more important than skill.”