Classy Gill justifies hype around him

Shubman Gill's defence is a work in progress and he keeps going through those moments of vulnerability. But he is also a naturally attacking batsman, and once he survives that iffy phase, he, more often than not, will get a big score. Runs on board mean a calm and collected change room. And that's what the youngster ensured with a century that was imbued with class and confidence in equal measure.

Gill, who had scored five centuries across all three formats in the last four months, was included in the playing XI on popular demand following KL Rahul's prolonged lean patch in the red-ball format. He managed scores of 21 and 5 in the previous Test in Indore where all Indian batters, save Cheteshwar Pujara, struggled. Here at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium, which is also the home venue of his IPL franchise's Gujarat Giants, Gill produced his Test ton in India. The 23-year-old's maiden Test hundred came in the first Test against Bangladesh in December last and since then he has been on a century spree in all formats.

The elegant right-hander struck three ODI hundreds - one against Sri Lanka and two against New Zealand - when the two countries visited India for white-ball series at the start of the year. His inclusion in the ODIs met with great criticism as the team management left out Ishan Kishan, who had struck the fastest double hundred in 50-over cricket by an Indian against Bangladesh in the previous match.

Gill, however, silenced the naysayers with three tons in six ODIs, including a 208. He followed that up with an unbeaten 126, again at this ground, for his maiden T20I hundred against the Kiwis. Including this knock and up to his inclusion in the Test XI in Indore, his sequence of scores across formats read -- 20, 110, 20, 7, 70, 21, 116, 208, 40*, 112, 7, 11, 126.

The numbers were hard to ignore, even irresistible, and with Rahul failing to justify team management's long rope extended to him, Gill's return became imminent. While there was a huge clamour for Gill's inclusion in the XI, the Punjab batter knew he had to bide his time as Rahul had bought himself some time with two match-winning centuries in England and South Africa.

"I think I got out of the team in 2021 after the WTC final (due to a shin injury) and KL (Rahul) bhai came in and did well for us. He scored centuries in England and that period to be honest with you, I hadn't performed that well in Test cricket, (not) up to my expectations. And just to be able to keep trying to get better in certain areas and if you are doing the right things, you will get a chance," said Gill after day's play.

Despite some help for the bowlers, especially towards the end of the day, the pitch largely remained docile but given the score-board pressure and the hot conditions, it was a challenge to get big runs. With the Aussies putting a lid on the scoring rate with defensive fields and slowness of the pitch preventing you from playing through the line, one can easily attempt something that can prove silly. Gill was aware of the dangers of falling into that trap when runs dried up at various phases and resisted the temptation to play a productive but risk-ridden cross-batted shot.

"You have to remind yourself constantly that things are going well because there was a phase where we didn't hit a boundary for the longest time and at that time, you had to tell yourself that 'it's okay if you are not getting runs now but if you stick to your processes then there will be an over where you will get 2-3 boundaries.' So process is not to lose patience, you can get out but also you might be able to get boundaries," he explained.