'My performance has not matched my expectations so far': Shubman Gill acknowledges Test performance gap ahead of Duleep Trophy 2024

Indian young batter Shubman Gill said that he has not been able to live up to expectations in Test cricket. The 24-year-old batter made his Test debut as an opener in 2020 against Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), but last year he asked the team management to bat at number three but the move didn't work out well for him in the start. However, things started going in his favour during the Test series against England earlier this year. He scored 452 runs in 5 Tests including two centuries. 
 

Team India will now host Bangladesh and New Zealand for the two and three Test match series respectively before the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024. In total India will play 10 Test matches where Gill wants to match his expectations. 

“In Test cricket, my performance has not matched my expectations so far. But we are going to play 10 Test matches this season, and when I look back after those 10 Tests, hopefully, my expectations will be matched. I worked on my defence a little bit more against spinners. You should be able to defend a lot more when you are playing on a turning track against spinners, then you can play the scoring shots,” Gill told PTI. 

Gill also said that playing on batting-friendly tracks in T20Is takes away defensive games and in his last Test outing against England, his main focus was on defence. 

“With more T20s being played…I won’t say on flat tracks but on batting-friendly tracks, I think it takes away a little bit of your defensive game. So, that was my focus in the England series,” he added.

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Gill will feature in the upcoming Duleep Trophy which is scheduled to start from September 5 before the Test series against Bangladesh where he will lead India A. Gill-led side will face India B at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

India A Squad

Shubman Gill (C), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.

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