'Ajinkya Rahane's knock was such a magnificent one to watch from outside' - Shubman Gill
Indian debutant Shubman Gill was highly inspired by stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane's Boxing Day Test hundred at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The young opener admired the way Rahane took the sting out of the Australian pace attack and waited patiently for scoring opportunities.
The 32-year-old walked out in the middle early on day two following the loss of Gill's wicket. However, even before he got his eye in, Team India had lost another set batsmen in the form of Cheteshwar Pujara.
India found themselves in a precarious position at 64 for 3, and the Australian pacers were threatening to run through their batting line-up once again. But Rahane's hundred ensured that the visitors ended day two in a dominant position.
In a video conference after the end of the day's play, Shubman Gill explained what he had learnt from the Indian skipper's brilliant innings.
"This knock was all about patience, more importantly when you are playing such a high quality pace attack, sometimes you get into shell and not able to score runs, and the way Ajinkya bhai played, it was such a magnificent knock to watch from outside. How to see off those tough periods, he made it sure that he put the loose balls away," Shubman Gill said.
It is important to capitalize on the first innings lead: Shubman Gill
Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were early in action on day one of the Boxing Day Test as there was turn on offer.
Shubman Gill believes that with the pitch wearing down as the game progresses, the spinners will get even more help. The 21-year-old thinks it's crucial for India to score as many runs as possible and then bowl out the Aussies cheaply.
"On the first day, there was a bit turn for (Ravichandran Ashwin) Ash bhai and (Ravindra Jadeja) Jaddu bhai and even today we saw there was turn for Nathan (Lyon) and as the time goes on there will be more cracks and it will be more challenging for the batsmen. So it is important to capitalise on this lead that we have and get them all out as quickly as possible," Shubman Gill added.
Ajinkya Rahane's unbeaten 104-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja has taken India to 277 for 5, giving the visitors a significant lead of 82 runs.
They will look to increase their lead as much as as possible since batting is set to get difficult as time passes.