Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant channelling spirit of Gabba 2021 in India’s bid for batting resurrection
“Nostalgic.” The word shot out of Shubman Gill’s mouth even before the obvious first question was completed. Returning to the scene where his beautifully crafted 91 played a huge part in India’s magical win at the Gabba in January 2021, Gill was almost certainly expecting to be asked what it felt like to renew acquaintances with the ground. Clearly, once he first set foot on the Gabba outfield on Thursday morning, the floodgates to the memory bank opened up automatically.
Gill, as much as his team, will be hoping he and Rishabh Pant, the more celebrated hero of that three-wicket win without numerous regulars, among them skipper Virat Kohli and bowling kingpin Jasprit Bumrah, turn the clock back and play lead roles in a batting revival the country has been waiting for nearly two months. Only once in the last five Tests have India scored more than 200 in the first innings; for them to make a statement in the third Test in Brisbane from Saturday, it’s imperative that the cold bats catch fire, that the celebrated batting order does justice to its reputation and pedigree.
Having missed the Perth victory with a hairline crack in his left thumb, Gill looked at home in the pink-ball defeat in Adelaide, batting long periods and generally riding the difficult parts. He acknowledged on Friday afternoon that he allowed the fall of three wickets in quick time and the loss of strike for an extended stretch to get to him in the first innings, and that in the second, under lights, he failed to pick the ball off Mitchell Starc’s left hand. One of the keys to improvement is first understanding and then rectifying mistakes. Gill has taken the first tangible step in that endeavour. There’s nothing to suggest that, with a return to red-ball play, he won’t be able to pull off the second, more pressing, requirement.
Gill hasn’t played in two of India’s last five Tests – he also missed the 46 all out implosion against New Zealand in Bengaluru with a stiff neck – but he hasn’t looked out of touch, making an excellent 90 in Mumbai against the Kiwis and touching at least 23 five times in six innings. He will feel he is due a big score, considering all the work he has put in at nets – on Friday, he extracted the most out of bowling coach Morne Morkel – over the last four days.
Pant holds key in the middle order
Like Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, Pant too hit Friday afternoon’s optional nets at the Gabba and dared Morkel, the former South African quick, to show what he is made of. Pant’s life has undergone a massive upheaval since his last visit to Brisbane when he knocked off a spectacular unbeaten 89 that turbo-charged and eventually cemented India’s three-wicket win. Except in the second innings in Perth when a solid base had already been established when he walked in, he has also been among the runs – not muscular and substantive, though scores of 37, 21 and 21 in totals of 150, 180 and 175 respectively aren’t to be scoffed at.
Pant’s consistently been India’s best batter since his dramatic comeback to Test cricket in September, which he celebrated with a fairytale second-innings hundred against Bangladesh in Chennai. He has three 50-plus scores in the last 12 innings, including brilliant half-centuries on a turner in Mumbai. He single-handedly marshalled India’s chase of 147 in the second innings with a splendid 64 when it was cut short by an inexplicable TV umpire overturn of the on-field decision. On day one in Perth, as wickets tumbled around him, he was barely troubled during his 78-ball vigil while in Adelaide, despite India’s unfamiliarity with the pink ball making it hard for batters to pick the ball, especially under lights, he batted for an hour apiece in both innings.
At No. 5, Pant has the opportunity to dictate terms and that’s what he will look to do, knowing that there is at least one specialist batter and two all-rounders below him in the order. While he has embraced greater responsibility and his defensive game has come on by leaps and bounds, Pant is at his most dangerous when he attacks without losing sight of the percentages. He hasn’t made six hundreds and seven other scores in the 90s in 70 Test innings by accident, and his strike-rate of 74.73 allied with an average of 42.76 clearly illustrate that he is most adept at taking on the bowling on his own terms. Gabba four years out is a classic example; he took his time for the first half of his match-winning innings and when he switched gears, he did so seamlessly and without taking risks.
Gill and/or Pant channelling the spirit of Gabba 2021. Now, what a mouth-watering prospect that is.
