IND vs BAN: ‘First innings duck further motivated me,’ says Shubman Gill after stellar unbeaten century in second innings

The 25-year-old has had a good run in the longest format, scoring 617 runs in seven matches (13 innings). He cited the England series earlier this year, where he scored 452 runs, as pivotal in cementing his place.

Shubman Gill put away the disappointment of a duck in the first innings by slamming his fifth Test century in India’s second essay against Bangladesh on Saturday.

“Having got out the way I got out in the first innings (caught behind while flicking off his pads), I was very disappointed. It further motivated me to be able to spend a lot of time on the crease and put extra value on my wicket,” said Gill after recording his third century of the year.

The 25-year-old has had a good run in the longest format, scoring 617 runs in seven matches (13 innings). He cited the England series earlier this year, where he scored 452 runs, as pivotal in cementing his place.

“I think the series I had against England gave me confidence. And I felt it was a long time coming for me, especially batting at that position (number three).”

About his knock and the preparations leading into the series, Gill remarked, “I had certain plans, and I think I executed them. It’s about having a good defence but also not missing out on the opportunities you get as a batter to score runs.”

A striking feature of his knock was how he used his feet to charge at the spinners, drive them down the ground, or go aerial. 

“It’s something that I started practising when I was very young because I was always a tall guy, so it was easier for me to use my feet and play along the ground,” Gill explained.

“Playing in the air and hitting sixes came a bit later when I got more power in my body. But initially, when I used to practice, especially against spinners, it used to be a lot more me stepping down trying to rotate because it’s then hard for bowlers to settle on a pitch like this, where the odd one is turning but not all the balls are turning,” he added.

On the game plan he and his fellow centurion Rishabh Pant had at the start of day three, Gill said they decided to dominate after being watchful for the first few overs.

“We spoke about trying to spend a little bit more time today because there might be some extra moisture in the wicket after the (overnight) rain. But once we played three to four overs, we tried to dominate because it was not about runs for us at that point. We wanted to give a certain amount of time for our bowlers to bowl,” said Gill.