“The most effective way….”: Gill starts preparations for Duleep Trophy at Mohali’s home turf

Mohali (Punjab) [India], September 3 (ANI): Indian opener Shubman Gill started preparing for the upcoming Duleep Trophy starting from September 5 onwards, where the youngster will be leading the India A side.

Gill, gearing up for a major red-ball assignment as a captain, took to Instagram on Monday, posting a video of him playing his trademark shots, drives and sweeps that have made him one of world’s most talked-about young cricketers. In between his nets session, he was also seen having a recovery bath and doing a bit of relaxation by laying down on the ground.

“The most effective way to do it, is to do it,” said the caption of Gill’s posts.

Gill, one of India’s premier white-ball cricketers, shot to stardom with a audacious knock of 91 against Australia at the Gabba back in 2021, which helped India hand over a rare loss to Aussies at their fortress after over 32 years and secure the series. Though his white-ball numbers stayed largely consistent since his days in the 2018 U19 World Cup winning team, Gill battled inconsistent form in the longer format of the game following this breakthrough series against Australia, in which he had scored 259 runs in six innings at an average of 51.80 with two fifties.

After poor performances during the tour to England, ICC World Test Championship final and the tour to South Africa between 2022 and early 2024, Gill’s place in Test side was questioned. However, with a fine series against England at home, he was able to shut all the outside noise. In six Tests and 11 innings this year, Gill has scored 498 runs at an average of 49.80, with two centuries and two fifties. His best score is 110.

Duleep Trophy and the upcoming 10-match Test season, starting from two-match series against Bangaldesh from September 19 onwards and concluding with India’s tour to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, will be key in deciding the future course of Gill’s Test career. Some fine performances at home and a strong Australia tour could help him retain his spot as a number three batter and become a key part of the Test side.

In 25 Tests, Gill has scored 1,492 runs at an average of 35.52, with four centuries and six fifties in 46 innings. His best score is 128. The Punjab batter is a strong first-class cricket batter, with 4,034 runs in 52 matches at an average of 49.80, with 12 centuries and 18 fifties coming in 90 innings. His best score is 268.

Revised squads for Duleep Trophy first round:
India A: Shubman Gill (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.
India B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (wk).
India C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (wk), B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Gaurav Yadav, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (wk), Sandeep Warrier.
India D: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (wk), Saurabh Kumar.