Kolkata: Shubman Gill is perhaps one of the youngest guns in the Indian artillery recalled the time when Indian players did not resort to sledging; however, things have changed presently and one reacts as they think it suits.
As for Gill, he maintains a neutral stance on the same; however, he assured if the Australians unleash some chin music on them, the tourists have got moves in store too.
Like most cricketers who aim to play Test cricket for their country, Shubman has always dreamt of being a part of a Boxing Day Test. But playing Test matches in Australia comes with an added challenge of facing Aussie sledge-tactics, and the famous chin-music when there’s pace and bounce on the wicket.
“There was a time when (Indian) players had a reputation of not being too aggressive, and people would take that for granted when sledging. Things have changed now. Every character is different, some people like to keep quiet and not react while for others, engaging in a verbal-battle eggs them on to do better. For me, I’m neither the kind to always keep quiet, nor the type to keep going at the opposition. But if the plan is to make us dance to their chin music, be rest assured we’ve got plenty of great moves in store.” Shubman told kkr.in.
“We practised quite a bit with the pink ball in the lead up to the Test match against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens last year (in November),” he said. “But I haven’t played any competitive first-class match under lights (till before the ongoing practice match vs Australia A in Sydney).”
Ask the 21-year-old how prepared he was, to take on the world-class Australian attack in their own backyard, and he says: “it’s quite intimidating to play Australia in Australia, but I am really looking forward to it. As a batsman, there is no bigger opportunity than to play against Australia at their home as your confidence gets a major boost if you manage to score runs here.”
Shubman looked good during his knock of 33 in the only ODI match he played at the start of the tour, before returning impressive performances in the day-night practice game vs Australia A, where he hit 43 and 65 in testing conditions
Having travelled with the Indian team on various tours before this one, it looks like Shubman is finally set for a debut in the longest format at some stage of this four-match Test series. Now, if that happens next week in Adelaide, it would be his first stint against the pink ball at any level.
The first Test gets underway on December 17 in Adelaide, followed by three more matches (in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane). (UNI)