“I had to take sleeping pills” – Shubman Gill opens up on the night before his Test debut

Shubman Gill was one of the finds of the series for India in the recently-concluded Test series against Australia. The Punjab cricketer made his debut in the second Test in Melbourne replacing the out-of-form Prithvi Shaw and he impressed with his solid technique and eye-pleasing strokes. On debut, he struck fluent knocks of 45 and 35* in India’s win. He followed it up with a 50 and 31 in the third Test.

After a failure in the first innings of the fourth Test, he stamped his authority with a commanding 91 in the second innings on a Day 5 pitch. His assured batting helped raise hopes of an unlikely victory for India and the same arrived courtesy brilliance from Rishabh Pant towards the end. It now looks like India have got themselves a reliable opener who can be trusted to provide good starts irrespective of the conditions.

‘I told myself that I need to be focused’ – Shubman Gill

Gill spoke to Forbes India and opened about the events before and during his debut in MCG. He said, “When the 36-all-out happened in Adelaide, it was really shocking for us. We didn’t know how to react because everything happened so quickly. We didn’t get the time to absorb it. We were in a comfortable position in the match, and in an hour everything changed.”

“What really triggered me was that the day after this incident there was a news item that said “the great Adelaide collapse”. I was reading it and all I could think at that time was that I don’t want the series to be remembered in terms of the collapse,” he added.

Speaking of the day before he made his debut, he said, “Before our first match [in Adelaide], I knew I’ll get to debut in the MCG match. I couldn’t sleep and had to take a sleeping pill. Next morning, on the first day of the Test, we were fielding first. It didn’t hit me then that I was making my debut since the entire team was on the field.”

“In the evening, I had to go in to bat. When I faced my first 10-12 balls, the enormity of the occasion sunk in–I am playing at the international level, facing the best bowling attack. That’s when I told myself that now I need to be really focused,” the 21-year-old concluded.

Gill will next be seen in action in India’s home series against England which begins with the first Test in Chennai from February 5.

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