Shubman Gill has revealed that he felt like ‘going to war’ while walking out to bat on his Test debut against Australia at Melbourne.
Playing against Australia and that too at their den isn’t an easy task for even experienced players. For debutants, the task is even more daunting. So it is quite imaginable what Gill must have felt when he walked out to bat at the iconic ground on his Test debut.
“As long as the fielding lasted, I was pretty normal. But when we finally batted, and I was taking a walk down from the dressing room to the pitch with the crowd cheering (backing the Aussies, nevertheless), it was an experience of a kind! It felt like going into a war!” Gill told his IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders’ official website.
Gill, however, looked fluent in his debut innings as he scored 45 runs. He went on to be India’s second highest run-getter during the series as well, with 259 runs to his name at an average of 51.80. He scored two fifties during the series, one of which came in the memorable win in the final Test in Brisbane.
The youngster also mentioned how he got overwhelmed with emotions when head coach Ravi Shastri presented him with the India cap on his debut.
“It’s inexplicable. At times you go through a sea of emotions which just make you go numb. It was that kind of a moment. Ravi Shastri gave a speech in the huddle and then I received the cap from him. After that we won the toss and elected to field first,” he recalled.
Gill also went on to talk about how much making his debut in Australia meant to him. He said, “When I was a kid, I used to get up at 4.30-5am to watch Test matches in Australia. Now people are getting up early to watch me play, that’s quite a feeling. I still remember my father used to wake up early and so would I just to watch the Australia series.”
“It was a different kind of fun to watch Brett Lee bowl or Sachin sir (Tendulkar) bat. All of a sudden, I was playing in that team and Australians were bowling at me.
“It felt surreal that the world was watching me. I was really looking forward to the challenge and always wanted to play in Australia to experience how it feels,” he added.
