Shubman Gill celebrates his century on the third day of the first test cricket match between India and Bangladesh, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Shubman Gill put behind him the disappointment of a first innings duck by slamming his fifth Test century in India’s second essay against Bangladesh on Saturday.

“Having got out the way I got out in the first innings (caught behind while flicking off his pads), I was very disappointed. It further motivated me to be able to spend a lot of time at the crease and put extra value on my wicket,” said Gill after recording his third century of the year.

About his knock and the preparations leading into the series, Gill remarked, “I had certain plans, and I think I executed them. It’s about having a good defence but also not missing out on the opportunities you get as a batter to score runs.”

Striking feature

A striking feature of his knock was how he used his feet to charge at the spinners, to drive them down the ground, or go aerial.

“It’s something that I started practising when I was very young because I was always a tall guy, so it was easier for me to use my feet and play along the ground,” Gill explained.

“Playing in the air and hitting sixes came a bit later when I got more power in my body. But initially, when I used to practice, especially against spinners, it used to be a lot more me stepping down trying to rotate strike because it’s then hard for bowlers to settle on a pitch like this, where the odd one is turning but not all the balls are turning,” he added.

On the gameplan he and his fellow centurion Rishabh Pant had at the start of day three, Gill said they decided to dominate after being watchful for the first few overs.

Extra moisture

“We spoke about trying to spend a little bit more time today because there might be some extra moisture in the wicket after the (overnight) rain. But once we played three to four overs, we tried to dominate because it was not about runs for us at that point. We wanted to give a certain amount of time for our bowlers to bowl,” said Gill.

The 25-year-old has had a good run in the longest format in 2024, scoring 617 runs in seven matches (13 innings). He cited the England series earlier this year, where he scored 452 runs, as pivotal in cementing his place.

“I think the series I had against England gave me confidence. And I felt it was a long time coming for me, especially batting at that position (number three),” said Gill before signing off saying “my best is yet to come”.

Smoke rises from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as pictured from Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, on September 20, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

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Team India began their practice session ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai on September 13, 2024. Photo: X/@BCCI

ndia began its preparation for the two-Test series against Bangladesh at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday. The opening game begins here on September 19, kick-starting a gruelling winter schedule in the longest format for Rohit Sharma’s men. In the next four months, India will play 10 matches against three opponents and look to seal its third straight World Test Championship final berth.

After the second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur (Sept. 27 to Oct. 1), India will host New Zealand for a three-match series next month. In November, the team will travel to Australia for five Tests as it chases a hat-trick of series triumphs Down Under and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy it has held since 2017.

The entire squad, barring Sarfaraz Khan (busy in the Duleep Trophy), sweated it out in the middle for close to five hours under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff.

Newly appointed bowling coach and former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel had his first day at the office, keenly observing the session throughout the day.

In the morning session, Rohit, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill got going, batting on the practice pitches on either side of the main square.

Ravindra Jadeja and R. Ashwin then joined for a lengthy session with the willow after their bowling stints. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, too, spent more than half an hour sharpening their batting skills.

There were almost a dozen net bowlers, including spinner Varun Chakravarthy. One of the training pitches was a black soil type with pronounced footmarks and the spinners operated primarily on this; the pacers bowled predominantly on the red soil surface at the other side of the square.

In the afternoon session, the second batch of K.L. Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel joined the action while Morkel monitored pacers Yash Dayal and Akash Deep.

Bangladesh is travelling to India following a historic 2-0 sweep of Pakistan in the latter’s backyard earlier this month, and will look to pose a stiff challenge to the hosts.