NEWS
Follow UsAfter a poor run of form recently, Shubman Gill finally silenced the critics with a timely century against England on Day Three of the second Test in Visakhapatnam. on Sunday (February 4). Thanks to his century, England have been set 399 to win the Test and go 2-0 up.
Gill, who slammed 104 batting at three, has thanked the support staff and his skipper Rohit Sharma for the support they have shown him during this tough phase.
"The support I have got from Rohit bhai, Rahul [Dravid] sir and Vikram [Rathour] sir as well, they are the ones who have always kept me motivated. They have believed in me when that is the case you are always going to be at the top of your game," Gill said while addressing the media after Day Three.
There's little doubt that Gill would have felt the pressure when he walked in to bat early after the dismissal of Rohit. He had a few lucky escapes but cashed in on it to get to his third Test ton.
"That's [criticism] part and parcel of the game. You do well, everybody is going to applaud you, you don't do well then... It's important to be able to know what you are going to do when you go into bat. I am someone who likes to see the situation, play according to the situation, take chances and play percentage cricket," he said.
Gill also believes that when things are not going your way, staying true to who you are is important. “I think it’s very important to stay true to who you are and how you have gotten there," Gill said.
"Sometimes if you get over defensive or over aggressive or try to play or try to be someone that you are not, then you are prolonging those [bad] innings. Then you’re sometimes not able to get out of that shell. Going into this Test match, I said, ‘I’m going to play how I’ve played my cricket throughout’, and that was that.”
England chased down 378 against India at Edgbaston in 2022, but Gill believes that the surface in Visakhapatnam is very different, and the first session of Day Four will play a pivotal role in deciding the game's outcome.
England is a team who are never out of the game. But I think this is a different kind of wicket than we played at Edgbaston. Having said that, the morning session is going to be very important because we have seen a bit of moisture coming in at the start of the day's play. Coming in tomorrow in the morning is going to be key for us.
England need 332 runs more to go 2-0 up, with nine wickets in hand. "England is a team who are never out of the game," the 24-year-old said.
"But I think this is a different kind of wicket than the one we played at Edgbaston. Having said that, the morning session is going to be very important, because we have seen there's a bit of moisture coming in at the start of the day's play. Coming in tomorrow in the morning is going to be key for us.
"As the game goes on and on, it will have variable bounce, as we saw today. It's not turning as much as as the other pitches, but it is definitely doing something and it's not easy to score runs."
India succumbed to a 28-run loss in the first Test in Hyderabad and will hope to wrap things up in Visakhapatnam on Monday (February 5) with a convincing victory to level the series.
