Shubman Gill revealed his tactical approach on Monday, emphasizing his determination not to fall prey to an lbw decision during the fourth Test against England, a match won by India with a five-wicket margin.
Shubman Gill, who scored an unbeaten 52 in the second innings, joined forces with wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, creating a crucial 72-run partnership that steered India from a challenging 120/5 to a victory without further losses.
Expressing his strategy against off-spinners, Gill stated, “I planned that I am going to keep the LBW out of the game. I have always played off-spinners stepping down the wicket, and in this game, I just had to execute that and be calm and not be too tentative playing the off-spinners.”
Gill emphasized that the pitch was favorable for batting, with no significant issues. He credited Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav for their vital contributions in the first innings, which allowed India to score 307 runs in response to England’s 353.
“Dhruv (Jurel) being not out on 30 and Kuldeep (Yadav) also being on the pitch for some 17 odd runs (at stumps on day 2), the chat was all about keeping the (England) lead between 80 to 100 runs. But the way both of them batted — they exceeded everyone’s expectations,” said Gill.
In the end, India managed to limit England’s first-innings lead to 46 runs, making the target easily achievable.
“The way Dhruv batted, he was so mature to take on the spinners when needed, and he was equally helped by Akash (Deep), Kuldeep, and (Mohammed) Siraj. Once the lead was just 40 to 50 runs (46), we knew that we were back in the game, and our bowlers just had to keep the pressure on the batters,” added Gill.
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