NEW DELHI: When
Shubman Gill
was chosen by the BCCI for the Cricketer of the Year award, it was a fitting recognition of his remarkable performance in white-ball formats in 2023.
In the previous year, Gill achieved the distinction of becoming the fastest batter to reach the 2000-run milestone in ODIs. He amassed 1584 runs from 29 matches at an impressive average of 63.36, which included five centuries.
Gill, debuting in T20s in January of the previous year, had a commendable run in that format as well, participating in 14 matches and scoring 335 runs, including a century. This achievement also placed him among the rare batters who have notched centuries in all three formats of the sport.
However, the shining performances in limited-overs cricket obscured a somewhat lackluster season for Gill in Test cricket. He managed to accumulate just 304 runs from seven Tests at an average of 27.63, with a notable innings of 128 against Australia standing out as the solitary saving grace.
By no means, Gill has not been bundled into any last chance saloon but he will be mindful of the increasing competition from players such as Rajat Patidar, who made a rollicking hundred against England Lions in Ahmedabad recently.
But the elegant right-hander needs a good run in the red ball cricket and the five-match Test series against England, beginning in Hyderabad on Thursday, offers him a brilliant chance to turn his fortunes around.
Since the series against the West Indies, Gill, who till then was opening, has been batting at No. 3 as left-handed
Yashasvi Jaiswal
has formed a good alliance with captain
Rohit Sharma
.
Head coach
Rahul Dravid
also recently reasserted his faith in Rohit and Jaiswal, marking them as the preferred opening choices for this Indian team for the foreseeable future.
That has left Gill with limited wriggle room as it will not be easy for him to return to the opening slot unless one of Rohit or Jaiswal is having a horror run or an unfortunate injury.
However, Dravid was not ready to pile pressure on Gill.
"Gill is a fine player. Starting out the journey as a cricketer sometimes...we forget that it takes a little bit of time at times. Some guys have success instantly, actually he is one of those guys who has done really well in some of his early days, especially in Australia," Dravid told media persons on Tuesday.
The former Indian captain, who knows a thing or two about playing on tough wickets, said Gill, like any other young player, will take some time to adapt.
"To be fair to him a lot of young guys coming through are playing on some challenging wickets, whether it's been in India or England or West Indies. It has been a pretty challenging wickets for the last two or three years," he noted.
Dravid said Gill has been putting some hard yards at nets and hoped that the 24-year-old would soon drive back to the right road.
"He is doing all the right things. He is working really hard. He is putting in the time, putting in the effort (at nets).
"In the last season he has got a couple of nice hundreds for us, one in Bangladesh and one in Ahmedabad against Australia. I think he is on the right track," elaborated Dravid.
Gill's time starts now then to vindicate the faith Dravid has placed on him so emphatically.
(With inputs from PTI)
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