Shubman Gill was a key player for India in the Border-Gavaskar Test series against Australia last year. He opened the innings along with a seasoned Rohit Sharma to set a platform for the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant to build on. The 22-year-old finished as the series’ sixth-highest run-scorer with 259 runs in three innings at an average of 51.80. 

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The best of Gill came in the fourth Test at Gabba. In a must-win situation, the Kolkata Knight Riders batsman played a 91-run knock in the second innings. Altough Gill missed what would have been a memorable century, his efforts at the top set India for a historic win at Australia’s fortress. 

In an interview to GQ India, Shubman Gill recalled his strategy against the steaming Austraian pace attack led by Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. 

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Gill said that the idea was to play pull shots only against Starc and let Cummins’ bouncers pass. 

“If you go back and watch that innings again, you will notice that not once did I pull Cummins. The pull shots were off Starc, keeping in mind the shorter square boundary from that side. I felt that even if I got a top edge, it would clear the fielders and get me boundaries because he was bowling at a good pace,” he said.

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The Punjab player further added that the strategy paid off for him that day. 

“The end from which Cummins was bowling had a much bigger boundary, so I told myself to only attempt the pull shot against Starc and leave the short balls from Cummins alone. The idea was to hit every bouncer that Starc sent down, and it paid off for me that day,” he added.

India defeated Australia by three wickets and clinched the series. Cheteshwar Pujara played a 56-run knock while Rishabh Pant scored 89 runs.