IND vs AUS | Shubman Gill never felt like he was making his Test debut, praises Parthiv Patel

On Day 1, while Australia opted to bat first, the Indian bowling attack spit fire restricting the hosts to a below-par total on the Melbourne surface, which didn’t do much in the second session. Barring the partnership between Marnus Labuschange and Travis Head, Australia struggled massively to counter the Indian bowling attack, which seemed more skilful than they started. 

However, the real test for the Indians was to play out safely till the end of the day against the hosts’ pace attack. While Mayank Agarwal fell early, the onus was on Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara to see the day through. With Pujara sticking to his orthodox self, Gill’s attacking and positive nature allowed India to control the day’s play. 

Former Indian cricketer Parthiv Patel was mightily impressed with Gill’s display at the ‘G, stating that it never felt like the Punjab cricketer was making his debut. Gill ended the day on 28 from 38 balls, a knock which consisted of five boundaries on the first day’s play. 

“I think his first impression was really good and after the first Test match if you remember, Virat Kohli was talking about the intent from the top-order. However, Gill’s intent was excellent and he took a good stride and pulled it right as well. He looked very comfortable at the crease, never looked like he was making his Test debut. Even if he was leaving the ball, he was quite confident on the deliveries that he had to leave while his backfoot shots were impressive as well,” Parthiv told Cricbuzz. 

Patel did not only praise the youngster over his attitude but also stated that he showed immense confidence and self-belief, required for the biggest stage. Alongside that, the former Indian wicketkeeper also pointed out that his shot to attack Lyon was probably the best indicator of his confidence. 

“You can only perform like this when your intent is right when you want to score runs for the country and I think he was ready for the occasion. I think it shows immense confidence and self-belief. If you look at Starc and Cummins’ first spell, he was beaten many times but he showed confidence. The most striking part for me was when he stepped down against Nathan Lyon and took the spinner on with a drive. It shows how much he believes in his own batting,” Parthiv concluded.