‘I’d Be Up To My Expectations’: Shubman Gill's Honest Admission On His Test Performances

India’s star batter Shubman Gill has accepted that he has not been up to the mark when it comes to the red ball format. Ever since Gill started playing cricket for India, he has been considered as one of India’s next big things. Talking about the Test format, the Punjab-based batter made his debut back in 2020 during the away series against Australia. As of now, he has taken part in 25 matches and has scored 1492 runs at an average of 35.52 with the help of 4 hundreds and 6 fifties during the time.

The 24-year-old batter started off as an opener but has now shifted his base as the No.3 batter, following in the footsteps of Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara. Despite facing a tough time during the England series earlier in the year at home, he managed to score 2 hundreds and ended as the second-highest run-scorer in the series with 452 to his name from 5 matches.

While talking ahead of the Duleep Trophy first round, as per PTI, Gill said he is hopeful that the upcoming string of 10 Tests against Bangladesh, New Zealand, and then Australia would help him improve his performance.

"Yes, I've not been up to my own expectations ([n Test cricket]," he said. "But we have ten Tests coming up together. Hopefully, after these ten Tests end, I'd be up to my expectations or more," he added.

"I worked on my defence a little bit more especially against the spinners. Playing on turning tracks, you should be able to defend a lot more. Then you play scoring shots. With more T20 and playing on batting friendly tracks in the white ball, I feel it takes away a little from your defensive game over a period of time. So that was my focus during the England series," he admits.

One of the most prestigious tournaments of the Indian domestic circuit, the Duleep Trophy 2024-25 is set to begin on September 5, 2024, where Gill would be leading Team A in round one.  The upcoming edition is of immense importance as a lot of cricketers will be eyeing a spot in the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh later this month.