Image Credit- BCCI
Before the second Test match between India and England
in Visakhapatnam, Shubman Gill acknowledged that he was anxious and under
pressure. He struck 34 in the first innings, which was India’s second-highest
score, and, more importantly, 104 in the second innings to help set a goal of
398 that would win the match.
“I’ll sum it up in one line. My heartbeat playing
the first ball and the last ball was the same throughout the innings,”
Gill said when asked by Kevin Pietersen on Sports 18 whether he had felt under
pressure batting at No. 3 for India. “That’s how nervous I was feeling
even after scoring my hundred (laughs). That was what I was talking to Rahul
[Dravid] sir in the morning when England were batting. It was quite weird for
me. I have never experienced like this.
“Obviously, not being able to score runs the
previous few matches,” Gill said, elaborating on why he had felt under
pressure. “It wasn’t the outside noise but the expectations that I have
for myself… I was disappointed how I got out in the first innings here [in
Visakhapatnam] and in the first innings in Hyderabad. So all of that
expectations, I was disappointed, maybe that’s the reason.”
Due to a finger injury, Gill did not play on the
fourth day, but he assured us that he will be well in a few days.
Gill had asked the team management to bat at No. 3
rather than starting for nine innings, amassing a maximum score of 36 going
into the second Test against England.
“People kept asking me why I went from opening to
No. 3. I told them that I have batted at No. 3 in first-class and scored three
double-hundreds at No. 3 and No. 4,” Gill said. “So it wasn’t
something that I have never done in my life. But batting at No. 3 is obviously
different in internationals. And I was thankful that I got the experiences and
the opportunities and the mistakes that I made… they all led up to this
innings [the century’. Hope to learn from these experiences.
“I don’t read the newspapers but I have seen it
with other players. I don’t go on social media to see what people are saying.
Because you know, if you’re not doing well, you don’t expect people to tell you
you’re not doing well. You know yourself you’re not doing well. More than
anyone else, it was my own personal disappointment that I wasn’t performing the
way I wanted to perform. My dad said I missed out on a big one, I did kinda
agree with him (laughs). I didn’t tell (him) about the heartbeat.”