Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], February 21 (ANI): India batter Shubman Gill heaped praise on fellow willow-wielder Yashasvi Jaiswal over his sensational performances against England in the ongoing five-match Test series.
Jaiswal struck back-to-back double tons in the second and the third Tests, helping India bounce back from the bruising defeat in the opening fixture and take a 2-1 lead going into the Ranchi Test from Friday.
The young left-handed batter opened alongside skipper Rohit Sharma in all the Tests, coming up with sparkling daddy hundreds–209 and 214 respectively.
“Jaiswal has scored two double centuries in consecutive Tests. It takes a rare talent to come up with such performances. Not many Test players across the world can boast of such performances. He is a sensational player and the cricketing world is taking note of his talent now,” Gill said at a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
The lanky batter has been faring well in the middle-order in the ongoing series and seems to have finally embraced his role as India’s Number 3 in red-ball cricket. The Punjab batter struck 91 in the second innings of the third Test and followed it up with a blistering knock of 104 in the second Test.
The 24-year-old, who has already featured as an opener in Tests and is now batting at No.3, also opened up on the difference between the two positions saying that he hasn’t made any adjustment to his technique in switching roles.
“Batting at number three is not something I never did in my life. I batted at this position in Ranji cricket as well as for India A several times. I have not made technical changes as such. However, there is a difference between opening and batting at number three. As an opener, you set the tone for the innings but at No. 3, you play a situation. You often come in at the fall of a couple of early wickets and have to hold the innings together,” Gill added.
Over the past few months, Gill has been on the receiving end of criticism following his sub-par World Cup campaign and India’s Test tour of South Africa.
Gill managed 74 runs across four innings in the two-match Test series against the Proteas, which ended on level terms (1-1). He retained his place in the Test squad for the five-match series against England and has since managed to silence his critics with sparkling performances.
“There was a lot of noise outside but I was not affected by it. I was rather disappointed in not being able to live up to my expectations. However, it is important when you are batting to forget everything and focus on the next ball. This is what makes a special player stand out from the rest. You have some expectations from yourself…what you want to do for your team. You want to be there for them as much as possible. It is all about being able to forget that (lean phase) and move on,” Gill said.
The Punjab batter said he would give himself the best chance to score a ton after missing out on his second of the series in the third Test. Gill was sent packing in the nineties after a runout.
“I would definitely try (to score a century). As a batter, you try to do so every time to pad up for the country. I will give it my best shot. But things are not always in my control. The runout in the last match was not in my control. As a professional cricketer, I have to take it on the chin and move on,” Gill said.
The fourth Test will be hosted at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi from Friday.
India’s updated squad for the 4th Test: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Devdutt Padikkal, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep. (ANI)
