Before the tour, Gill ensured he shortened his back lift for the fast pitches of Australia. His technique was based around staying leg-side of the ball. The Australian pace bowlers felt they could nick him out on the bouncier tracks. But Gill proved each doubter wrong.
Shubman Gill
One of the last players to run onto the field when the winning runs were hit, was Shubman Gill. Gill, 21, almost went unnoticed in the initial celebrations. He took on the Australian bowling on the bouncy Gabba pitch. They tried to pepper him with words and bouncers, but he had an answer for everything.
Before his Test debut, head coach Ravi Shastri had walked to him during the final training session and stated, “you are ready for Test cricket young man.” In three Test matches he averaged 51.80 and scored 256 runs against one of the best bowling line-ups in the last two decades.
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Before the tour, Gill ensured he shortened his back lift for the fast pitches of Australia. His technique was based around staying leg-side of the ball. The Australian pace bowlers felt they could nick him out on the bouncier tracks. But Gill proved each doubter wrong.
He left the ball well, his back foot defence was first-class and every full ball was punished. Gill is the new generation of India cricketer. He fears nothing. Even with three men patrolling the leg-side boundary, he took on the short ball. Instead of being cautious, he backed himself and scored a few boundaries against the bouncers.
At no stage of his 146-ball 91 did Gill smile or frown. There was no emotion, but there was belief and execution. People will continue to talk about Rishabh Pant’s masterful innings or Cheteshwar Pujara’s bravery, but when one looks at the scoreboard they will notice it was Gill that started it all.
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