Gavaskar: Gill ‘playing a bit too aggressively in Test cricket’

NewsGavaskar feels Gill has to adjust to the demands and nuances of red-ball cricket

Shubman Gill failed to make an impression on the Centurion Test  •  AFP/Getty Images

“I think he is playing a bit too aggressively in Test cricket,” Gavaskar told Star Sports. “There is a slight difference when you play Test cricket when compared to T20I and ODI cricket. The difference is in the ball.

“The red ball moves a little more than the white ball in the air and off the pitch as well. It bounces a little more too. He should keep that in mind.”

Gill endured back-to-back failures in Centurion in the first Test against South Africa. He was caught down leg when he looked to glance a wide delivery from Nandre Burger that reared up on a spicy opening-day pitch in the first innings, and got knocked over by Marco Jansen when he tried to play across the line in the second. His scores were 2 and 26, from No. 3.

That meant he finished 2023 with an under-30 average in Tests for the third consecutive year.

While he has had rich returns in the white-ball formats this year – 1584 ODI runs at an average of 63.36 and strike rate of 105.45, and 1202 T20 runs at an average and strike rate of 44.51 and 154.30 – his Test numbers haven’t been too impressive. His century against Australia on a flat Ahmedabad pitch was the only time he crossed 30 in his ten innings.

“Shubman Gill started off his career so well and we praised his shots. We can only hope that he gets back into his form,” Gavaskar said. “Hope he trains harder and does well in the future.”