After Team India`s iconic victory in the second Test match, skipper Shubman Gill said that it is always tempting to have a spinner like Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI, but Washington Sundar`s inclusion in the team was finalised to add batting depth.
“It`s very tempting when you have a bowler like Kuldeep. One of the reasons why I wanted to play Washington was because he gives us the batting depth,” said Gill after India levelled the series with an emphatic win.
He then explained the importance of building the partnership with Washington, which in return helped to secure a lead of 180 runs.
“And the first thing is, I think the partnership between me and Washington is very important. If there was no partnership, then I think our lead would have been 70-80-90 runs, which is psychologically very different from 180 run lead,” he said.
Gill feels the spinners give more control than pacers when the Dukes ball gets soft and unresponsive.
“As much as we expected, even on the fifth day, the ball was not moving that much from the middle, it was just moving from the rough. We thought that…maybe on our fifth day, a spinner will give us more control if the ball is moving from the wicket. And especially on such (flat) wickets, sometimes spin gives you more control than fast bowling. So that was our mindset,” he said, explaining the rationale behind Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja`s inclusion.
Currently, Shubman Gill has been enjoying his rich vein of form as he has already amassed 585 runs in four Test innings. He stated that he started working on his batting when the IPL 2025 was nearing its end.
“When the IPL was coming to an end, that`s when I started working. But the technique and the perception of the people, I think that changes after every series, every match. As a team or as a player, we don`t focus much on what people are saying about you,” said the 25-year-old.
The Shubman Gill-led India will now clash against England for the third Test match at the Lord`s Cricket Ground from July 10.
(With PTI Inputs)
