Shubman Gill Opens Up About Lean Phase, Says ‘I Was Putting Myself Under Too Much Pressure’

Ahmedabad: Shubman Gill opened up on his lean phase stating that he put himself under too much pressure. The India opener’s comments come after he scored his second Test century during the ongoing fourth Test against Australia on Saturday.

Gill gave ample display of his immense talent with a stylish hundred and batted for nearly six hours to score 128 off 235 balls that included 12 boundaries apart from a lofted six off Nathan Lyon. He justified his selection in playing XI ahead of KL Rahul.

“There was phase in the middle when I was scoring 40s and 50s (52 and 44 against New Zealand in 2021) and getting out and when I played the one-off fifth Test in England, I scored some 20 odd (17) and I got out early in that innings,” Gill said at the end of Day 3 in Ahmedabad.

Special feeling pic.twitter.com/Ch93YXgDMF

— Shubman Gill (@ShubmanGill) March 11, 2023

“I got a feeling that as soon as I was getting set, I was getting over defensive and over cautious. I was thinking now that I have got set, I will have to bat as long as possible. I was putting myself under too much pressure and that is not my game.

So how did Gill come out of that phase? “So I had to tell myself that I shouldn’t put too much pressure on myself when a situation like this arises next time, that I must convert now that I am set. I needed to keep it a bit free-flowing.

“It was more about mental make up and I focussed on that primarily,” added Gill. The ploy actually worked for Gill who has been in tremendous form in the past few months across formats.

The right-hander has now hit six hundreds across formats in three months. Gill’s centuries include two Test hundreds, three ODI tons including a double and a T20I hundred.