Shubman Gill Faces Biggest Challenge

A very young man, Shubman Gill was captaining India in Australia in ODIs just a few days ago, then switched to T20s, and now he’s set to take the Test match in Kolkata. It’s precisely because of this dramatic change in formats that former India international Cheteshwar Pujara says Shubman Gill faces biggest challenge of his still short career as an all-format player.

Shubman Gill Faces Biggest Challenge: Transitioning Between Formats

“He was in Australia not long ago, captaining the Indian team in ODIs, then played T20s, and now he suddenly has to switch from the white ball to the red one, and not in Australia, but in India, where the conditions are completely different,” explained Pujara, a JioStar expert.

Test cricket requires completely different qualities: endurance, patience, the ability to adapt to new gameplay. Given that the transition must be made as quickly as possible, it becomes a challenge for any top-class player, even one as talented as Gill. Pujara says bluntly: “His main task will be to adapt to different formats as quickly as possible.”

But let’s be honest, it’s not an easy task: reframing your mindset and changing your approach to every play. One day you attack almost every ball, and the next you have to stand with bat for hours, waiting for your chance. Not every young player can handle that kind of pressure.

However, Pujara is confident that Gill has the maturity to handle the situation. “A player like him is young, but he’s maturing quickly and is already leading the team well. I’m sure he’ll react positively,” he stated. The Indian Test team’s success in England and against the West Indies at home should also give Gill confidence. “As captain, he’ll draw confidence from that,” Pujara added.

India’s Test squad and competition

While Gill prepares for a mental battle, there are other interesting changes brewing in the Indian line-up for Test series. Pujara believes that wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, thanks to his superb form and two centuries for India A against South Africa A, has earned a place in the main batting order. “I believe he will take that position and bat at number 6,” Pujara said.

For another youngster, Sai Sudharsan, who will likely to play at number 3 in the batting order, this series will be a crucial one. “He’s a young player who’s maturing very quickly,” Pujara noted. “Once he scores his first century, he’ll be much more confident.”

But not everything is so clear-cut. Pujara hints that there may not be room in the squad for a quality all-rounder like Axar Patel, and that’s precisely the difficulty of choosing a player with such a wealth of talent on the team. “If Axar were playing for another country, he probably wouldn’t have been excluded out of the squad,” he admits.

Pujara isn’t expecting an easy game for India. South Africa is the current ICC World Test Championship winners. “They have very good spinners, and they also have good players in all positions, which makes them a very competitive team,” he said.

The outcome of the match, he said, depends largely on the pitch. If it’s “a little better,” it will allow the batsman to score runs, but the spinners will still need help. The main issue for SA is their batting order. “To win a Test match, their batsmen have to score enough runs. If they can put up anywhere between 350 to 400 on a good surface, they’ll have a real chance.”

So viewers can expect a tense battle. Shubman Gill faces Biggest Challenge, which could determine his future as a player capable of conquering all formats of cricket.