Idea Was To Hit Every Bouncer That Mitchell Starc Bowled: Shubman Gill On India's Historic Chase At Gabba

Indian batter Shubman Gill opened up on attacking Australian pacer Mitchell Starc during their historic chase in the Brisbane Test last year.

The Ajinkya Rahane-led Indian side bounced back from a humiliating defeat in Adelaide to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1.

Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant helped India to chase 329 against Australia

India entered the final Test at the Gabba with the majority of their core players of the squad being benched with various injuries.

Rahane led an inexperienced set of players in the Brisbane Test against a formidable Australian side.

India were left with a huge score of 328 to chase as they lost the opener, Rohit Sharma, on Day 4. But that didn’t stop the visitors from scripting an exceptional win against the Aussies.

Shubman Gill led the charge in the first session of Day 1 with Cheteshwar Pujara playing the role of a second fiddle from the other end. Gill missed his maiden Test hundred by nine runs as he was caught by Steve Smith in the slip region off Nathan Lyon’s bowling.

Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant carried the chase from where Gill had left. Pant became the architect of India’s chase as he smashed nine fours and a six in the course of his gritty knock of 89*.

Pant ensured he finished the game for India despite wickets kept tumbling from the other end.

The idea was to hit every bouncer that Mitchell Starc sent down: Shubman Gill

Gill, who smashed eight fours and a couple of sixes in his magnificent 91-run knock, went down the memory lane and talked about how he played pull shots against Mitchell Starc while having a different approach against Pat Cummins.

“He and Cummins were bowling short at us and my idea was to attack Starc. 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,” Gill told GQ India.

“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.

“As a youngster making your debut in Australia, the biggest doubt in your mind is whether you will be able to hand the pace. Pat Cummins and Starc are known for their pace and Josh Hazlewood for his line and length. But when I was able to ­conquer that doubt and I felt ­comfortable handling that pace, then it was all about my mindset,” he added.

Gill has recently signed with the Ahmedabad franchise for IPL 2022 along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya and Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan.

Also Read: Disappointing To Lose Shubman Gill, But That’s The Way Life Is Sometimes – KKR Head Coach Brendon McCullum