Brisbane [Australia], December 13 (ANI): Ahead of the third Test against Australia at Brisbane, Indian batter Shubman Gill said that the young generation of players is not afraid of the Aussie challenge anymore after the team’s recent success Down Under, remarking that players look at “bowlers and seam position instead of the reputation of bowlers”.
The third Test of the series is set to begin on Saturday at the Brisbane Cricket Ground. Following a resounding 295-run defeat against the visitors at Perth’s Optus Stadium–where standout performances from Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Yashasvi Jaiswal were on display–the hosts bounced back strongly. Exceptional bowling efforts from Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, combined with a counter-attacking century from Travis Head, secured Australia a dominant 10-wicket win as they chased a modest target of 19 runs.
The match will see India at an advantage since the last time India visited Brisbane, an inexperienced Indian line-up led by Ajinkya Rahane handed the Aussies their first defeat at the venue in over 32 years back in 2021, to win the series 2-1. This year as well, thanks to a phenomenal seven-wicket haul from Shamar Joseph, West Indies secured a win in the pink-ball Test at the venue earlier this year.
Speaking ahead of the match in the pre-match press conference, Gill said that after two series wins in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21, the newer players do not feel the same amount of pressure as the older generations.
“Pressure? As in we have won the last four Test series against Australia. So I don’t know why there should be any pressure on us,” said Gill as quoted by ICC.
“It would have been something if we had not won there before, but we have won on the last two occasions, and even in India. For this generation, we look at the bowlers and the seam position, instead of the reputation of the bowlers,” he added.
For Gill, this to-and-fro nature of the contest, with the balance shifting between sides and individuals is what makes a longer series in Test cricket special.
“That is the beauty of playing a long series. There might be a scenario where a bowler might be getting you out three or four times, and if you play the same bowler in the next Test,” Gill said.
“You know certain areas where you’re vulnerable and areas where you can get away as a batsman. So that is the fun of playing a long series. More than skill, there is a lot of mental tactics involved here,” he added.
On his own batting, Gill said that he feels confident while at the crease, and has enjoyed batting thus far. He also went on to give reasons for his inability to get big scores despite getting starts (31 and 28) in both innings in Adelaide.
“Yes, while I am batting I have felt good. In the first innings, I was affected by what happened on the other end, I went into my shell and missed a straight one.
“In the second innings, all of us found it difficult to spot the ball and its seam position. Generally, as a batter, you are better when you can spot the seam. I found that difficult to spot, but whatever time I have spent at the crease so far, I have enjoyed it to the core,” he signed off.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal. (ANI)
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