Melbourne: There’s something magical about the sound of the ball hitting Shubman Gill’s bat. When in form, his timing makes every shot feel just right. And we have seen that version of the batter in ODIs so often. He averages 58.20 in 47 ODIs, leaving no doubt about his class.
But the numbers have proved to be difficult to replicate in Test cricket. In fact, he hasn’t even come close. An average of 35.76 in 31 Tests is poor for a batter of his class and these numbers drop to 29.57 when he tours the SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia). He has looked good in the middle but then, inexplicably, he loses his concentration and falls.
Gill’s highest score in his last seven away Tests is 36 — a sign that he often gets starts but then gives it away. And this hurts India because he asked for and got the No.3 slot in the batting order. Traditionally, the one-drop batter is the one who sets the tone for the innings. You may have your own way of doing it — like Ricky Ponting, you may counterattack, or like Rahul Dravid, you could show that you are in for the long haul.
The problem with Gill is that he isn’t quite sure what he wants to be; how he wants to approach his innings. And that is why he is often caught in two minds. That is also why we see him leave the ball well for a bit but then suddenly push at a delivery. The other thing that often seems to be playing on his mind is how he has got out playing the pull shot. Now, he almost seems to be waiting on the back foot.
“Shubman Gill has hard hands,” said Cheteshwar Pujara, who defined the No.3 role after Dravid, on Star Sports. “He has to work a bit more on his footwork as well. Most of the times during this series we have seen that he is waiting for the short deliveries rather than going towards the ball.”
Hard hands are great for a surface where the ball is coming on nicely but in Australia the ball is constantly doing something, and to tackle that you need a high level of skill. Perhaps there is a lesson for Gill in the discipline shown by KL Rahul as opener.
“See, I’m quite certain that everybody has their own set plans… You also need to have a bit of luck as a top-order batter,” said Rahul a few days ago. “Just a little bit that goes your way if you can get through those first 10-15 overs and get a bit of confidence, then you start feeling good and you start enjoying playing against the Kookaburra ball with the pace and bounce here in Australia.”
“It’s just about getting through those first 20-30 balls for everybody and everyone’s trying their best to do that, and it’s a long series. We’ve played three games and five innings now, so I’m sure everyone will go back and come up with their own plans the next time we bat.”
Gill has to fall back on the old diktat — give the first hour to the bowlers. He has the shots to up the scoring rate and is hard to stop if he gets his eye in, but he has to give himself the best chance of doing that.
“The only thing you can do in the first 30 overs is to tighten up your defence, try and respect that the first 30 overs is the bowler’s time and give them their time, leave balls, try and play as tight as possible and then really try to cash in once the ball gets older. So that’s my plan, and that’s pretty simple, and I’m sure that’s the plan for everybody,” Rahul said.
On Sunday, Gill showed that he’s still trying out new things. He kept trying out different stances against the bowlers — as if he was trying to find the sweet spot. This is something we usually see Steve Smith do a lot but he has been doing it for 15 years. Gill, on the other hand, is perhaps trying to something that gives him peace of mind.
That, however, can only be experienced when one does well in the middle. Do well in the nets and it might boost your confidence a bit. But it does nothing for your record. Gill, almost desperately, needs runs and there might be no better venue to do that than at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The wicket will have something but it won’t be like Perth or Brisbane and, according to the curator, if you get your eye in, there are runs on offer; and India will hope that Gill is ready to take up that offer. It surely will be music to many of the fans who will turn up for the Boxing Day Test.
