Ready to bat in middle order in limited overs cricket: Shubman Gill

Kolkata (West Bengal): Shubman Gill, India’s emerging star batsman, stated that he is open to batting in the middle order in limited-overs cricket and emphasized the need to eliminate dot balls in T20 cricket by depending more on rotating strike against spin before Punjab’s clash against Haryana in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

The batter mentioned his prowess against spinners to rotate the strike and termed his game an all-around one. He added that his century in the ODI game against Zimbabwe came at the number three position. “My game all-round is very good and I rotate the strike well against spinners. So even if I get a chance in the middle order, I am ready for that. If the team management are looking at me in the middle order, then I am ready for it. When I scored that hundred in Zimbabwe, I was batting at one down, and I didn’t open. So one down or two down, whatever the team needs, I am ready,” stated the batter as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“I believe that the fewer dot balls you play in T20s, the better your strike rate will be. Almost all batsmen have the same boundary percentage, but the ones with fewer dot balls have a higher strike rate. In T20s, you need to know what the bowler is trying to do. Those who bowl in a set way, you can dominate them,” said the batter.

Although Gill has been a consistent member of India’s Test lineup, he has yet to make his T20I debut and is only a member of the squad for the ODIs. Gill began the batting with Shikhar Dhawan in seven of the nine 50-over matches he played this year against West Indies, Zimbabwe, and South Africa since the top-order players Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli were not available.

Gill also looked back on his first county experience with Glamorgan, where he scored 244 runs in three games, including a century and a half-century. He claimed that, in contrast to India, a strong start cannot be taken for granted in England.

“In England, you have to concentrate all the time. In those conditions, sometimes you feel you are set, but one spell can throw you off. It’s not like that in India. Here once you reach 40-50, there is a pattern to bat. There is no such pattern in England. You could be batting at 110 and are still not set. No matter what score you are on, you have to be careful [on] every ball,” he said while talking about his county stint.

Gill has only batted as a non-opener in one of his 21 Test innings. He is also open to dropping down the order to gain more opportunities in the Indian Test team. Even though Gill is secure in his red-ball cricket approach, he is conscious of the tendency for his focus to wander while he is in the zone.

“The red-ball format is very important to me. You get a different type of confidence when you do well in red-ball cricket. I am ready to bat wherever there’s a vacant spot in the side. I don’t think there is anything wrong with my technique. When your concentration is disturbed, or you relax a little bit, and then if a good ball comes, you miss it. I think it always happens with me that I am batting well and then I get out,” shared the batter on his test batting technique and desire to play for the Indian test side whenever the opportunity arises.

“There is no phase where I get out after I am constantly beaten. I think it [dismissal] is because of a lapse in concentration. When a batsman is struggling, he is more alert. With me, sometimes it’s the other way round. I fail to keep my concentration going when I’m batting well,” stated the batter about his lack of concentration that results in his dismissal.