Shubman Gill admits Test performance ‘not up to expectations’, blames white-ball cricket for loss of form

When Shubman Gill took over Cheteshwar Pujara’s number three spot in Test cricket, many had their doubts. Pujara had played nearly 100 matches, scoring 18 hundreds and 6500 runs at the position. Gill still averages just 35 overall, but at 3, it goes up to 41. Talking before the Team A vs B match in the Duleep Trophy, Gill owned up to the fact that his performance hasn’t been great.

Shubman Gill not satisfied with himself

Filling in the shoes of Pujara won’t be easy, both home and away, but Gill’s up for the challenge. The white-ball vice-captain stated that he’s not fulfilled his own expectations and hopes to change that in the coming six months when he goes against Bangladesh, New Zealand, and Australia.

“Yes, I’ve not been up to my own expectations (in Test cricket). But we have ten Tests coming up together. Hopefully, after these ten Tests end, I’d be up to my expectations or more,” said Gill on the eve of the match.

White-ball behind red-ball failure?

Shubman Gill was struggling at the start of the last Test series India played against England. In the first three innings, he scored just 57 runs at 17 and many started questioning his place. Mind you, before that, he’d failed against South Africa and the West Indies. He equated the reason behind his struggling to white-ball cricket.

“I worked on my defence a little bit more especially against the spinners. Playing on turning tracks, you should be able to defend a lot more. Then you play scoring shots. With more T20 and playing on batting friendly tracks in the white ball, I feel it takes away a little from your defensive game over a period of time. So that was my focus during the England series,” he added.