India batter Shubman Gill on Sunday felt satisfied after playing a 104-run knock on day three of the second Test match against England in Visakhapatnam, expressing that pressure is a part and parcel of the game and it is important for a player to stay true to who he is.
Gill roared back into form with his third Test century, breaking free from a 12-inning long streak of poor scores and wasted starts.
While speaking at the post-day press conference, Gill said that it was important for him to score runs at the number 3 batting order after losing Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma early on day three.
“It was very important and very satisfying for me to be able to score runs at No. 3. And it felt pretty good, especially with the situation. We lost Yashasvi and Rohit [Sharma] bhai – they’ve been giving us really good starts at the top of the order. I think it was important for us to get a big lead and to be able to get as many runs as possible,” Gill said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
The 24-year-old added that he did not take any pressure after his recent low-scoring performance in previous Test matches.
“I think that’s part and parcel of the game. You do well and everybody’s going to applaud you. You don’t do well, everybody’s doing to… But I think the important thing is to be able to know what you’re going to do when you go into bat. I’m someone who likes to see the situation, play according to the situation and take chances and I think play percentage cricket,” he added.
“It’s very important to stay true to who you are and how you’ve got runs. Sometimes when you’re trying to be over-defensive or over-aggressive and try to be something that you’re not, then you are prolonging those innings and you’re sometimes not able to get out of that shell. And that was my thinking going into this Test match. I’m going to play the way I’ve played before,” he added.
Gill eventually lost his wicket to England debutant Shoaib Bashir while attempting to play a reverse sweep shot in the 56th over of India’s second inning on Sunday.
Coming to the match, England ended the day three at 67/1, chasing 399 runs to win, with Zak Crawley (29*) and Rehan Ahmed (9*) unbeaten.
India gained a 398 run lead in their second innings after being bundled out for 255. Shubman Gill roared into form with a classy 104 in 147 balls with 11 fours and two sixes, scoring a fifty-plus score after 12 innings. Contributions from Axar Patel (45 in 84 balls with six fours), Ravichandran Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer (29 runs each) helped India secure a big lead.
Tom Hartley (4/77) and Rehan (3/88) were the pick of the bowlers for England.
Led by Jasprit Bumrah’s heroics, India had earlier bundled out England for just 253 in their first innings, gaining a 143-run lead. Zak Crawley (76 in 78 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes) did launch an impressive counterattack, but Bumrah (6/45) along with spinner Kuldeep Yadav (3/71) blew away the rest of the English line-up.
India reached a respectable total of 396 runs in their first innings mainly due to the maiden double-hundred of the young Yashasvi Jaiswal (209 in 290 balls, with 19 fours and seven sixes). Knocks from Shubman Gill (34), Rajat Patidar (32), Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel (27 each) provided some help to the left-handed batter. -ANI