“They are the ones who have…”

India batter Shubman Gill thanked skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid for backing him amid his poor form. He said that the duo motivated him and believed in him when things were not going against him.

The long wait finally ended as Shubman Gill finally returned to form and played a magnificent innings. The batter in the second innings of the ongoing Test against England in Vizag stood tall for his team and put them in a dominating position.

The batter played sensational shots in his innings and helped the team take a lead of around 400 runs. Shubman Gill was having a horrible run in Test cricket and there were calls that even team management should drop him from the team and play someone else in his place.

However, team management kept backing Shubman Gill and he repaid their fifth by slamming a gorgeous ton. The batter brought up his third Test ton and bailed the team out of trouble. He ended with a knock of 104 runs and helped the team post a total of 255 runs.

Shubman Gill expressed his gratitude towards Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid, and Vikram Rathour for backing him. He said that they backed him and that’s why he was motivated to be on the top of their game. Speaking to reporters, he explained:

“The support I’ve got from Rohit bhai and Rahul [Dravid] sir and especially Vikram [Rathore] sir as well. They are the ones who have always kept me motivated and always believed in me. And when you have guys like that motivating you, you are always going to be on top of your game.”

Since scoring a Test century against Australia in early 2023, Shubman Gill failed to make a mark in Test cricket. He failed consistently and then moved to the No.3 spot. However, he couldn’t set the stage on fire and now it seems he finally cracked the format.

It’s very important to stay true to who you are and how you’ve got runs – Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill further said that it was important for him to stay true to himself. He pointed out how trying different things doesn’t help players to get out of that shell.

Shubman Gill further added that ahead of the match against England in Vizag, he thought that he would play in the same manner as he used to do earlier. He elaborated:

“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.”

Shubman Gill ended with the knock of 104 runs off 147 balls. The batter slammed 11 fours and 2 sixes in his innings before getting out to Shoaib Bashir.