Shubman Gill knows how it feels when the chips are down. He had gone through 12 innings without a half-century and struggled both at home and away.
However, a solid century in the second innings in Visakhapatnam which opened the doors for the series-levelling victory helped him breathe a bit easy. He confirmed his return to form with another 91 in the second innings in Rajkot.
But for the No.3 batter such criticism matter little. He has learnt to take it in his stride and move on.
“There is always disappointment but it was more within myself and regarding my own expectations,” Gill said at a news conference in Ranchi on Wednesday.
“The outside noise didn’t really bother me. What’s important in such situations is to make the best use of the next opportunity. You have to forget the past and just focus on the next ball.
“The difference between a good player and an average player is in how quickly they can forget the previous innings whether good/bad and move forward. Players who are able to do this easily are those who are great players.
“Expectations you always have from yourself. You obviously want to contribute and want to be there for the team as much as possible. I still have the same mindset as I did earlier. It’s all about putting the past behind you and reacting to the current situation,” Gill explained.
He also played down suggestions that the shift from opening to No.3 led to his lean patch.
“I have batted at No.3/No.4 for the India A side and also in domestic cricket. So it’s not something that I haven’t done in my life,” he said.
“There’s not a lot of technical changes that I have done to my game... It’s different when you are opening the innings, as there is no time to think much. It’s you who are setting the tone while if you are batting in the middle order or top order at 3/4, you have to play (according to) the situation.”
How does he rate his knocks in the second and third Tests?
“In the Vizag Test, I don’t think I could have played any differently even if I was calm and composed. But yes, the feeling I had in that game was different... In Rajkot, the team was already in a good position when I came to bat...”
