"Even though you have played for India for so many years"- Shubman Gill on why Ravichandran Ashwin is 'one of the best spinners' ever
Indian batter Shubman Gill hailed veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin ahead of the latter's 100th Test against England in Dharamsala. Gill shed light on just how hard Ashwin worked to keep adding more tricks up his sleeve so that he could adjust to the changing demands of the game.
The young right-hander has spent quite some time with Ashwin in the dressing room and claimed that he has learned a lot from the veteran's hunger to keep improving.
Here's what Shubman Gill told about Ravichandran Ashwin to Jio Cinema:
"That's one thing I have learned from Ashwin 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."
Ashwin has already contributed with a couple of wickets in his 100th Test. He dismissed both Tom Hartley and Mark Wood in the same over to help India tighten their grip on the opposition on Day 1.
Shubman Gill on his form with the bat in the series
Shubman Gill was under immense pressure coming into the Test series against England because of his lack of runs at No. 3. However, he already has scored 342 runs in four Tests with a fine hundred in Visakhapatnam and a match-winning 52* in a tricky chase in Ranchi.
Here's what Gill stated on this series so far:
"Honestly, I have loved this series so far, especially the breaks we have been getting... 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."
He added:
"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... I was always focused on what I needed to do, not that I want to go back to opening or anything else."
With a massive tour of Australia looming towards the end of the year, Shubman Gill scoring big runs will only keep India in good stead. He now has a chance to bat big in Dharamsala and take his team to a commanding position.