India batter Shubman Gill hopeful of turning around Test fortunes

BENGALURU: Shubman Gill credited working on his defensive batting as key to his turnaround in Test fortunes during the England series earlier in the year. The 24-year-old has an average of 35.52 after playing 25 Tests, he smashed 452 runs in the home series against England.

"I worked on my defence a little bit more, especially against the spinners," Gill told ESPNCricinfo, as quoted by the ICC.

Currently, Gill is playing in the Duleep Trophy as captain of the India A side. He displayed an average performance in India A's first inning as he scored 25 runs from 43 balls at a strike rate of 58.14. The 24-year-old smashed three fours during his time on the crease at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The youngster added that one should be able to defend more when they are playing on a turning track. He revealed that his main focus during the five-match Test series against England was to play more defensive shots.

"If you're playing on a turning track, you should be able to defend a lot more, then you play your scoring shots. I feel it [batting-friendly tracks in white-ball games] takes away a little bit of your defensive game over a period of time. So that was my focus in the England series," he added.

Gill made his Test debut against Australia in 2020. Following that, he has played 25 long-format matches and 46 innings, where he scored 1492 runs at a strike rate of 59.37. He went on to make a crucial hundred in Vizag in the second Test and finished the series against England with an average of 56.5. India will be playing a two-match Test and three-game T20I series against Bangladesh at home from September 19 to October 12.

This will be followed by a three-match test series against New Zealand from October 16 to November 5. These two series' will pave India's preparation for the Border Gavaskar Trophy later this year.