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What is the secret behind Shubman Gill's record-breaking run in England Test series? Gujarat Titans assistant coach explains
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India captain Shubman Gill slammed four centuries while amassing 754 runs in the five-match Test series against England. Reuters
Shubman Gill did not have the best of numbers in England ahead of his first assignment as India Test captain – the five-match series against Ben Stokes' side that concluded on Monday . Gill had scored 88 runs at an average under 15 in three Test appearances, leading to serious doubts over his ability to deliver with the bat under the added pressure of captaincy in the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Gill didn't just deliver as a batter against England while captaining India to a 2-2 draw – the second consecutive time a five-match series between these two teams concluded with this scoreline. He ended up smashing multiple records en route to finishing with a staggering 754 runs at an average of 75.40 , collecting four centuries along the way including a career-best 269 in the second Test at Edgbaston.
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What exactly was the key to his success with the bat, that too in a new role as he succeeded former captain Virat Kohli at the No 4 spot following the latter's Test retirement?
GT assistant coach reveals Gill's preparation for England trip
Naeem Amin, the London-based assistant coach of the Gujarat Titans franchise that Gill leads in the Indian Premier League, revealed that the 25-year-old had one eye on the crucial tour of England during the 18th IPL season that preceded it, going to the extent of practising with shiny new red balls in the nets.
'And the bit that you will find interesting was him keen to practice just against a new ball. As soon as the new ball would become a little bit old, he'd change it for another new ball,' Amin told The Indian Express.
Amin also credited Gill's desire to learn from the best as a key factor behind his success, citing the example of him picking Kane Williamson's brain during the former New Zealand captain and batting icon's two-season stint with the franchise.
'His appetite always puts cricket first, and in that aspect, he is second to none. When Kane Williamson (former New Zealand captain and world's leading modern-day batsman) was in our team (GT), he was asking him about his thoughts all the time. 'How would you go about this or that? Why are you doing this drill? How does it benefit you?' Amin added.
Thanks to the work he put in ahead of the tour, Gill ended up breaking a couple of Sunil Gavaskar's records – the most runs in a Test series by an Indian captain as well as the most runs in a match in the Test format.
And it was his red-hot run during the series, combined with the heroics of other individuals such as senior pacer Mohammed Siraj and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, that nearly helped India win a Test series on English soil for the first time in 18 years.
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