da 888casino： “You can’t win a Test match without taking 20 wickets, no matter how many runs you have scored, so that has been one of our key discussion points”
da apostaganha： Sidharth Monga19-Jun-20253:18
Gill: ‘Can’t win a Test without taking 20 wickets’
Expect India to stop hedging bets as they did in Australia. India’s new captain Shubman Gill said on the eve of the start of the series at Headingley that he was prepared to play even four tailenders in pursuit of 20 wickets as quickly as possible.”Yes, definitely.” Gill said in response to the question. “You can’t win a Test match without taking 20 wickets, no matter how many runs you have scored. So, that has been one of our key discussion points, you know, how we’re gonna take 20 wickets. And there might be a case, you know, where we could only be going with some pure batters and you could see a bowling allrounder and three to four premier fast bowlers or proper bowlers.”The series in Australia was a departure from India’s philosophy of playing Test cricket in recent times. They played with only three full-time quicks through the series. The pitches negated the spinner, and the fifth bowler was either Nitish Kumar Reddy or his combination with Washington Sundar. In the absence of Shardul Thakur, who might be the bowling allrounder Gill spoke of, India seemed worried about the depth in their batting.Related
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The Border-Gavaskar Trophy was also a series with two different captains, and consequently perhaps no clear direction. Now Gill takes over as full-time captain, and at least in the press conference, he has spelled out a philosophy consistent with the Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri and Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid teams.There are two stages that this philosophy can get tested in. The first one will arrive as early as the toss when India name the XI. They are going to take a final call on the morning of the match to decide the final one or two places. The main fast bowlers didn’t bowl in the nets on the eve of the Test. Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav were the only bowlers that turned up while most of the batters got one final hit in.The second stage that the philosophy will get tested is if they lose a Test. That is when it will be important to keep backing the method that has tended to put them in the most competitive space in the last seven years or so in England, Australia and South Africa. If, say, India play Shardul as the fourth quick and it doesn’t work either because England take him down or because India add few runs down the order, the response will be telling.Gill, of course, will be gunning to make it work. It will mean extra responsibility on the batters, but it also indirectly means that they have put up or chase fewer runs. Runs is the other thing that Gill will want as soon as possible in his captaincy stint. He has got the selectors’ backing, he has had time to have chats about Test captaincy with both Kohli and Rohit during the IPL, but there might be a little pressure on him given he hasn’t replicated overseas the kind of efficiency he displayed in his debut series in Australia in 2020-21.Shubman Gill, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shardul Thakur are all smiles during a training session•PA Images via Getty Images
That is something Gill wants to set right in this series. And his goals are not modest. “Honestly, when I want to go out there and bat, I just want to play as a batsman, not really want to think that I’m the captain of the team because I think that sometimes puts too much pressure on you,” Gill said. “Whenever I’m going out there, I want to play as a batsman and want to want to dominate the opposition and be the best batsman in the series, and that’s what I’m trying to look at.”Being a captain does bring more attention on you from the opposition. You become the No. 1 target. Gill is not fazed by that. “I mean, whenever I’m playing, I always think the opposition is trying to challenge me,” Gill said. “I mean all the players, you know, that they think are key. So I don’t think it’s going to be any different.”Gill has captained India in Under-19 cricket and his IPL side, but Test cricket is the “biggest honour”. The answer is no surprise but Gill summed up the importance of doing well in Test cricket when asked if winning the IPL, which he has actually done once, is bigger or wining a five-Test series in England is.”Definitely the Test series, in my opinion,” Gill said. “You don’t get many opportunities as a captain to be able to come to England, maybe two; if you are the best of your generation, maybe three. And IPL comes every year, and you get to have a crack at it every year. So in my opinion, winning a Test series in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa is bigger.”
