Shubman Gill has so far hasn’t lived up to his promise on the tour of Australia, failing to convert his starts into big innings; and former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik believes a “technical error” has crept into Gill’s game because of “a lot of white-ball cricket“.
“I think Shubman Gill definitely (has) got a slight technical error, which is pushing at the ball,” Karthik said while talking on Cricbuzz.
Gill has so far played three innings in two Tests of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, scoring just 60 runs. He missed the series opener in Perth because of a fractured thumb.
He got himself in playing knocks of 31 and 28 in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide, but couldn’t make those starts count. In the drawn Test at Gabba, Gill was dismissed for 1.
“When you play a lot of white-ball cricket, you tend to do that (push at the ball). Even Travis Head does that, but what he has found is a method of doing that, and I think that players like Shubman Gill are caught in the trap of the way they bat in India and the way they bat outside,” Karthik added.
“The moment you see the ball released from the bowler, your mind tells you that this is a full ball you need to go at it. Batsmen who travel abroad to places like Australia, England and South Africa tune themselves in practice when they see a fuller ball like that, especially against a new ball – A) they play with slightly soft hands, or B) they try and focus on playing the ball as close to the body or leave.
“Shubman Gill is playing like he would play in India, where he sees the release and goes for the ball with hard hands. In Australia, sometimes in places like the Gabba, playing square of the wickets is much easier than in front. So at the start of the innings, you have to tell yourself that ‘I have to leave’,” he explained.
The 25-year-old Gill has played 31 Tests, scoring 1860 runs at an average of 35.77, including 5 hundreds and 7 fifties.
Karthik felt that the right-hand batter has been around long enough and is expected to be more careful about his shot-selection.
“For a No. 3 batsman who has been around for so long, Shubman Gill has played very ordinary shots; there are no mincing words there. And let’s be honest here, that the Indian batting, as a group, has not fired here for some time now, and with every passing innings, they are putting pressure on themselves,” the former stumper said.
Among the Indian top-order, only KL Rahul has shown some sort of consistency, even though he hasn’t scored a big knock yet. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli began the tour well with a century in the first Test in Perth but have gone off the boil since then, while Rohit Sharma’s struggle since the Bangladesh series at home has continued.
The five-Test series is level at 1-1, and the fourth Test begins on Boxing Day (December 26) in Melbourne.
