Talking about that part of his career where he was failing to convert good starts, Gill said that back then, he used to put unnecessary pressure on himself, thus averting from his natural game.
“I got a feeling that as soon as I was getting set, I was getting over defensive and over cautious. I was thinking now that I have got set, I will have to bat as long as possible. I was putting myself under too much pressure and that is not my game.
“Once I get set, then I get into a sort of rhythm and that’s my game. So I had to tell myself that if I get dismissed while playing my natural game, then it is fine. But problem was I was getting out playing the type of game that doesn’t come naturally to me,” he explained.
He also added how playing with a defensive approach affected his game.
“If I get out trying to play a shot after getting set, I can accept that dismissal, because that’s a shot and my execution wasn’t proper. But if I get out playing a game which isn’t my style then it became unacceptable to me.”
“So I had to tell myself that I shouldn’t put too much pressure on myself when a situation like this arises next time, that I must convert now that I am set. I needed to keep it a bit free-flowing. It was more about mental make up and I focussed on that primarily.”
Gill talks about Ahmedabad surface after incredible day on field
“I think on wickets like these, it is difficult to score runs fluently but it is also important that on these wickets you need to be positive and keep looking for those singles.”
“He (Rohit) just came and he was little surprised. But I said that was my shot. If the off-spinner is bowling on a good wicket that we are playing now and the field is up and that was my shot and I was confident I will hit him for a boundary (six).”
After spending a lot of time playing on cement wickets back home in Mohali, the youngster has become familiar with horizontal bat shots. Talking about his process of playing on-drives with a straight bat, he said,
“I think one of those shots that automatically develops when you play bouncer. I am used to playing bouncers with a plastic ball on cement surfaces and the balls which were a little fuller. It developed as I practised it over and over (again) and it was more instinctive than anything else.”
“You have to remind yourself constantly that things are going well because there was a phase where we didn’t hit a boundary for the longest time and at that time, you had to tell yourself that its okay if you are not getting runs now but if you stick to your processes then there will be an over where you will get 2-3 boundaries. So process is not to lose patience, you can get out but also you might be able to get boundaries.”
“To be honest not much. I was just practising, training and getting opportunities is not up to me but to team management. I was doing everything that was under my control,” Gill replied.
