India batter Shubman Gill dismissed concerns about his technique ahead of the much-awaited 2025 Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan in Dubai on February 23. His comments came in response to questions about his underwhelming performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
Shubman Gill has a bundle of talent. But it is one thing to have such ability and a very different thing to do justice to it. So far, he has not in his Test match career. Shubman Gill’s red-ball record is modest and unless he scores in tough situations, he can never be a great of Indian cricket. And by great, I mean the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli. That’s the yardstick of greatness and Shubman Gill, so far, has not even reached halfway.
Shubhman Gill managed just 93 runs at an average of 19 in three Tests as India lost the series 1-3. However, he has rediscovered his form in ODIs, scoring four consecutive 50+ knocks, including two back-to-back centuries.
Shubman Gill’s poor form in BGT 2024-25
At every net session, it becomes clear why India believe in Shubman Gill. He plays shots that are supposed to be hard ever so easily. There was this pull to a ball that was climbing up towards his rib cage at the Gabba. He swayed inside the line, just a subtle realigning of his torso, nothing more followed by a swivel of the back foot to direct the ball where he wanted it to go.
The eye test in cricket is a rudimentary measure of how good a batter is based on how comfortable they look in the middle. Are they moving into the ball, or are they stuck on the crease? Are they rushed by quality bowling, or do they actually make it look a bit meh? Gill has been very good at passing the eye test in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But his highest score is 31. This has been happening for a while.
Since Shubman Gill announced himself almost four years ago, setting up India’s win at the Gabba with 91 off 146 balls, his highest score outside Asia is 36. During this period, he has only 267 runs to show across 16 innings in Australia, England, South Africa and the West Indies, for an average of 17.80.
He has developed a habit of looking really, really good, and then just randomly getting out. Earlier this week, at the Gabba, he essentially middled a wide ball from Mitchell Starc into a packed slip cordon for Mitchell Marsh to pull off a superb catch. India were 6 for 2, and the irony was that Shubman Gill had attended the pre-match press conference and highlighted how the batters’ focus was in doing whatever it took to get big first-innings runs.
In 2024, Gill began the home series against England with a pair of low scores, and it felt like his place in the side was under threat. He trained extremely hard – he had kids bowling to him in the Visakhapatnam nets, and he gave them the utmost respect – and emerged the second-highest scorer across the five Tests with two crucial centuries.
He has credited that period as an important part of his career so far. Preparation and repetition, that’s how Gill likes to work through the challenges he comes up against. So perhaps the more time he has spent at No. 3, the better he will get. It has been 18 months since he has permanently taken over that position. He isn’t the perfect fit there. His best position might be one step lower, but that’s occupied.
Melbourne, the venue of the fourth Test against Australia, is likely to offer fast-bowler friendly conditions again, and Australia will once again look to drag him forward – which he tends to do reluctantly – and tempt him to play away from his body – which he tends to do liberally – and that disconnect is what often leads him into danger, as he ends up reaching away from his body.
Shubman Gill could still get out that way. Batting in the top three has been extremely hard in this series. But he would want to make it a little harder than it currently is for bowlers to pick up his wicket. In 12 Tests this year, Shubman Gill has scored 866 runs in 21 innings at an average of 45.52, with three centuries and three fifties each. In the last Gabba Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), the 25-year-old continued with his poor form and scored just one run from three balls in the first inning.
In 12 Tests away from home, Gill has scored 616 runs in 22 innings at an average of 30.80, with one century and two fifties. His best score is 110. However, in 10 Tests in SENA countries, he has scored just 481 runs in 19 innings at a sub-par average of 26.72, with two fifties that came during his debut Test tour in Australia, including the iconic knock of 91 at Brisbane which helped India win the series.
Since that knock, in the next 13 innings, he has failed to score even a fifty. Meanwhile, the youngster has a fine home record, with 1,177 runs in 17 matches and 31 innings at an average of 42.03, with four centuries and five fifties and best score of 128. However batting with ominous form in Champions Trophy 2025, Shubman Gill opened about what went wrong in BGT 2024-25
Key India batter Shubman Gill reflects on poor BGT 2024-25 ahead of IND vs PAK 2025 Champions Trophy match
Team India batter Shubman Gill dismissed concerns about his technique ahead of the highly anticipated 2025 Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan in Dubai on February 23. The remarks were made in response to a query about his poor Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
Shubman Gill scored only 93 runs at an average of 19 in the three Tests he played as India suffered a 1-3 series loss to Australia. However, the stylish batter has returned to form in style in his favorite ODI format, smashing four consecutive 50+ scores, including back-to-back centuries.
Addressing his technique in the press conference on the eve of the India-Pakistan encounter, Gill said [via India Today]:
“Don’t think that my batting had any flaws in Australia. But I think it was more mental. I have not worked on anything specific after Australia, and prepared normally as I would.”
He further expressed satisfaction at his match-winning century against Bangladesh in India’s Champions Trophy opener.
“One of my most satisfying innings that I have played. There was a lot of pressure, if we would have lost, this would have been a do or die situation for us. In the middle phase there was pressure on us, but since the target was not to big, it did not become such a big problem. If the target was 270-280, it could have become a problem for us. I of course want to score every game, but it does not work out like that,” Gill stated.
On a challenging wicket, Shubman Gill scored an unbeaten 101 off 129 deliveries to help India win by six wickets. It was an impressive eighth ODI century in only his 51st outing.
Shubman Gill on batting with Rohit Sharma
Shubman Gill praised Indian skipper and his opening partner Rohit Sharma for easing the pressure on him with attacking batting in the powerplay. With Rohit’s revamped aggressive batting style over the past three years, his partnership with the consistent Gill has worked wonders for India in the 50-over format.
“Rohit bhai has his own style. If at all, if it helps me help me get into my groove, it’s great. It’s a delight to bat with him. I enjoy watching him bat. Rohit getting fast starts does not affect me. If Rohit gets quick starts, that helps me settle down into my game. I like batting with him,” said Gill.
He added:
“The way we play the game in the powerplay, it is quite different. He likes to play in the air and I like to keep it on the ground. That’s the hallmark of the pair, that we have different strengths and the bowlers have to think which areas they have to target as we play shots that are different to one another.”
Gill and Rohit boast incredible numbers as an opening partner in ODIs, with almost 2,000 runs at an average of 71.92, including six 100-run stands in 28 innings. The duo added 69 off 59 deliveries in India’s run-chase against Bangladesh in their tournament opener in Dubai.