Ahead of the first test against South Africa at the Eden Gardens, starting from Friday, India skipper Shubman Gill was asked in the media conference on Thursday at the Eden Gardens that how he is being able to manage the character of the game’s different formats while switching from the ‘white-ball’ cricket to the ‘red-ball’ Test cricket.
“I think in 4-5 days of turnaround, coming from another country and playing different formats is not easy. It’s more mental than showing physical ability. “I am still trying to figure out how to manage it. I think the workload, starting from the Asia Cup, we have been playing kind of back-to-back, travelling to different countries, switching between formats within 4 to 5 days. So, I am also trying to figure out what gives me the best chance to be able to perform and succeed in all those formats that I am going to play. But the challenge is definitely more mental than physical. Bodily, I feel fine. There’s obviously a little bit of jet lag when you are coming from Australia. Apart from that, physically, I feel completely fine. It’s a bit challenging at times because the requirements for different formats in different places of the world are different, so I think it’s a good challenge and a good learning curve for me, Gill explained in the media conference.
Additionally, returning from Australia to India, and the adjustment to the climate is not as easy as the captain added, “There’s a good amount of time difference between India and Australia. So, the body takes a bit of time to get used to it. Then, after coming here, there’s a different challenge of playing Test cricket in India as compared to playing white-ball cricket in Australia. Definitely, it’s a bit challenging mentally and physically. But as a professional cricketer, it’s about how you tackle these things.”
The 26-year-old has been playing and juggling the three formats on a consistent basis. Gill played the England series from June to August. He was then announced as deputy for T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav for the Asia Cup in the UAE, which went on from September 9-28. There was little rest for the weary skipper, however, with Gill then coming back to India to lead in the 2-match West Indies series, which went on from October 2-October 14.
After the Windies series, Gill had to fly in for a white-ball tour to Australia, consisting of 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is, which started on October 19 and ended on November 8. That makes it 6 months on the road where Gill has played 7 Tests, 12 T20Is, and 3 50-over matches. With the South Africa series starting on November 14 and its associated preparations, that doesn’t afford Gill much of a turnaround time.
However, he also did not hesitate to reveal that playing at the Eden Gardens has always been homely for him. Eden Gardens was the ground that shaped his formative years when he burst onto the scene for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL in 2018 after a successful U-19 World Cup campaign in the same year. It’s, however, ironic that since becoming captain of the India Test and ODI teams, Gill’s concept of ‘home’ has been basically living out of a suitcase.
