Team India batsman Shubman Gill said that his target for the year was to seal the No.3 spot in the national Test side.
The five-match Test series between India and England got underway at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday as Ben Stokes’ English side won the toss and opted to have a bat first.
Gill replaces veteran Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara at the No. 3 position after the 36-year-old once again failed to make it to the team.
Following the toss, Gill opened up on the differences in perspective between opening the innings and walking out to bat at the crucial 1-down spot.
“Generally when you are opening, you are more used to going straightaway,” the 24-year-old began.
“It’s all about how calm you can be and how much assessment you can do while you are out there and I got that quite a few times to do,” he said.
Gill also touched upon the performances of skipper Rohit Sharma and young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal during the West Indies tour and said that he would be happy if the openers could replicate their performances from the Caribbean on home soil against England.
“In the first Test match, both Yashasvi and Rohit bhai scored a century, I sat there for about 50-60 overs. If I sit out for 50-60 overs today, I would be happy,” Gill said.
“I like batting at three, I hope I’ll be there for a long time,” the batsman from Fazilka revealed.
Gill added that the Indian unit has quality experience in playing on wickets such as the one in Hyderabad and opined that the ability to pick up runs on loose deliveries will serve as crucial in the Test.
“We are used to playing in these wickets and these conditions. It’s about trusting your defence and then being able to pounce on the opportunity that you get to score runs,” Gill added.
The right-handed top-order batsman, who had a fabulous year in limited overs cricket last year said that he targets a breakthrough year in the longest format of the game in the year 2024.
“Last year was a breakthrough year for me in white-ball. This year, I believe, is going to be a breakthrough year for me in red ball,” he concluded.
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