The way India’s new No. 3 Shubman Gill stepped out to James Anderson, and hit him for a six in the 34th over, is something the player, and the fans will remember for a long time to come. To be able to counter the movement, and hit the ball over the head of the bowler, especially someone of the caliber of Anderson, speaks volumes the kind of form Gill is in.
On Friday, during the day 2 of the fifth Test in Dharamshala, the youngster brought his second ton of the series, that too in front of his father and childhood coach Lakhwinder. This innings was in complete contrast to the way Gill was struggling, in the series prior to this one.
Lakhwinder finally opened up on the ways, Gill arrested the slide in form. “Stepping out has made a big difference, he had stopped doing that and that created pressure. Since his U-16 days, he has been stepping out to the spinners and pacers as well to cut the movement,” Lakhwinder told PTI.
“The moment you don’t play your natural game you are in trouble. The whole game is about confidence, when you get one good innings you are back to your best. Since his U-16 days, he used to make tons of runs.”
Shubman Gill Should Have Continued to Open
But despite scoring runs in his new position, his father isn’t too chuffed about the move. “He should have continued to open. It is not right at all I feel. When you sit in dressing room for longer, the pressure tends to increase. Number 3 is not opening neither it is a middle-order spot.
“Plus his game is not like that, it suits the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara who has a defensive game. When the ball is new you get more loose balls, when you come in after 5-7 overs, the ball is still shiny and the bowler is also settled with his length.”
But then, that is his opinion at the end of the day, and leaves all these decisions to his son. “I don’t interfere in his decisions. I just train with him. He is old enough to make his own decsions. I made decisions on his behalf only when he was a teenager,” he said.
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