IND vs AUS 2023: During my lean phase, I was putting myself under too much pressure: Shubman Gill

Indian opener Shubman Gill feels he was putting himself under too much pressure when he was going through a lean patch. Gill has been in sublime form in the recent past, scoring a truckload of runs against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the limited-overs series.

The youngster couldn’t grab his opportunity in the third Test match at Indore against Australia, returning with scores of 21 and 5 after he replaced KL Rahul in the final XI. However, Gill scored a brilliant knock of 128 runs in the fourth Test match to make the most of his chance at the top of the order.

Gill, as always, timed the ball to perfection and looked at ease on a batting paradise. The right-hander scored a dozen fours and a six in his magnificent knock. Gill added 74 runs with skipper Rohit Sharma and then added 113 runs with Cheteshwar Pujara on Saturday. This is Gill’s second Test century as he continued his purple patch at the International circuit.

“There was a phase in the middle when I was scoring 40s and 50s (52 and 44 against New Zealand in 2021) and getting out and when I played the one-off fifth Test in England, I scored some 20 odd (17) and I got out early in that innings,” Gill recalled that not-so-great phase in his 15-Test career as quoted by PTI.

Gill admitted he was putting himself under the pump whenever he was getting settled at the crease as he was overcautious in his approach.

“I got a feeling that as soon as I was getting set, I was getting over-defensive and over-cautious. I was thinking now that I have got set, I will have to bat as long as possible. I was putting myself under too much pressure and that is not my game.

“Once I get set, then I get into a sort of rhythm and that’s my game. So I had to tell myself that if I get dismissed while playing my natural game, then it is fine. But the problem was I was getting out playing the type of game that doesn’t come naturally to me,” he explained.

Gill feels he doesn’t mind getting dismissed trying to play an aggressive shot but he would be livid if he gets out while trying to play defensively despite getting set at the crease.

“If I get out trying to play a shot after getting set, I can accept that dismissal, because that’s a shot and my execution wasn’t proper. But if I get out playing a game which isn’t my style then it became unacceptable to me,” he was very precise in his thought process.

After centuries from Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli, India posted 571 runs on the board in their first innings at Ahmedabad.