Gill critical of the flat pitches and poor ball shape as he says it takes away from the essence of Test cricket.
India captain Shubman Gill critical of the flat pitches in the two tests so far.
The core of Test cricket in England, according to Gill, is being diminished by the combination of flat grounds and the Dukes ball’s quick-to-go softness.
He was asked what he thought of these circumstances, which coincided with the Bazball era in England, when India managed to grab 20 wickets, 15 of them in bursts with three new balls, to tie the series 1-1.
“It gets very difficult for the bowlers,” Gill said. “Even more than the [pitch], the ball is going soft and out of shape very quickly. I don’t know what it is – weather, [pitches] or whatever – but it gets very difficult for the bowlers to get wickets in these conditions. As a team, when you know it is difficult to get wickets and runs are coming easily, a lot of things are out of your control.
“I think there should be a little help at least. If the ball is doing something, you enjoy playing. If you know there is only 20 overs of any help and then you have to spend the rest of the day on the defensive, thinking how to stop runs, then the game loses its essence.”
But after being baptised in hotter climates all across the world, Gill joked that he didn’t mind the relief of being a batter. In the first Test match at Headingley, India used some casual batting from the lower order to leave runs out in the middle under conditions that were essentially the same. Gill holed out on 147 in the first innings of the previous Test, so he decided to set an example.
“Sometimes, especially when you are the captain, I think you need to lead by example so that whenever there is another player in that situation, you can command to that player,” Gill said after scoring 269 and 161 at Edgbaston. “This is what the team requires right now and you always have to put the team first rather than your personal desires. Or sometimes you want to try some things, but I think if you put the team ahead of you, you will always walk in the right direction or walk on the right path and that’s what I wanted to do in this match.
“If a good ball gets me out, it gets me out, but as long as I’m there, I want to play as long as possible.”