5th Test: 'Learnt that there is no end to picking up new skills from Ashwin', says Shubman Gill

Dharamshala, March 7 (IANS) With Ravichandran Ashwin taking the field for his 100th Test match through the last game of the series at Dharamshala, top-order batter Shubman Gill said he’s learnt from the veteran India off-spinner that there is no end point about picking up new skills.

Ashwin, who debuted in November 2011, becomes the 14th Indian player to play 100 Test matches for India. The veteran off-spinner also becomes just the second bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan to achieve 500 wickets in less than 100 Test matches.

“He is a terrific, terrific bowler and more importantly, he’s someone who is always wanting to improve and add new skills in his game be it batting or bowling. That’s one thing I have learned from him that even though you have played for India for so many years, you still want to add something new to your game and make a difference to your skillsets. That’s why he’s one of the best spinners that the world has ever seen,” said Gill to JioCinema.

Asked if India can win the series 4-1, Gill opined, “In all the four matches we’ve played, there were moments where things were either 50-50 or we might have been behind on some days.”

"But the way the team has come back has been the turning point, the way the youngsters, players who don’t have that much of experience have responded. I think that has been the turning point. Hopefully, even if we don’t play that well in a particular period in this match, we will be able to turn it around,"

Gill has scored 342 runs in four matches, with impactful second-innings performances like 104 in Visakhapatnam, 91 in Rajkot and 52 not out in Ranchi, where he shared a vital 72-run partnership with Dhruv Jurel.

"Honestly, I have loved this series so far, especially the breaks we have been getting. I never felt tired or fatigued or exhausted during the series. Obviously, the breaks we got after every two matches have definitely helped us. Now, every time we come back, we feel fresh, we feel motivated to go.

"Something really strange happened in the last innings that I played. My heartbeat was normal when I went into bat and even when we lost wickets, I never felt the pressure. Nothing fazed me. It was completely opposite when I batted in Vizag.

"So, both these innings taught me a lot in terms of how to handle things. It also taught me that ‘this is the way things can be’. I had not experienced something like this earlier," said Gill about the learnings he's taken about himself from this series.

Even when he wasn’t getting runs at number three, Gill felt he had no thoughts over going back to opening the batting."I don’t think there was any doubt that I should go back to opening the innings because I was not scoring runs at No. 3. It’s not that I had not played at No. 3 or No. 4 before.

"Actually, playing for India ‘A’, I have three double centuries. One of them came batting at No. 3 and two at No. 4. So, I was used to playing at No. 3. Unfortunately, the runs didn’t come in the first few matches. But, I was always focused on what I needed to do, not that I want to go back to opening or anything else.”

The right-handed batter also talked about his relationship with fellow youngsters like Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Sarfaraz Khan. “The relationship is great between us. Dhruv and Yash played together in the U-19 and they are very close and the relationship between the four of us is fantastic. We laugh a lot, we spend a lot of time together off the field, so it’s great.”

Gill signed off by being pleased over achieving things he aimed to get better at. “As far as individual targets, I am very far from that. I don’t really set series-wise targets but the things I have been working on are coming off nicely. Hopefully, by the end of this year when we’ll be in Australia it will be even more exciting times for us."