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Perseverance, Patience: The Two P's Shubman Gill Should Learn From Kohli's 2018 ENG Tour

Anurag Dasgupta

What Gill can learn from Kohli [Source: @ViratCrazyDK/x.com] What Gill can learn from Kohli [Source: @ViratCrazyDK/x.com]

While imitating your idol can be a helpful way to learn and develop certain skills or behaviours, it's generally more beneficial to focus on understanding the underlying principles and values that make your idol successful. This is a quote which should be read by India's new Test captain, Shubman Gill as he embarks on his maiden assignment as the team leader.

With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retiring from Tests, India needed a new leader and Gill, who has been with the team for a few years now was made the captain permanently. The decision was met with a negative response as fans and experts had a belief that Gill was never the right choice to lead Team India.

However, more than his captaincy, the newly appointed skipper should worry about his batting form in red-ball cricket, and more so, should worry about his dry spell on England shores. The upcoming Test series will be too early to judge Gill's captaincy skills but it won't be early enough to make a conclusive evidence on his batting technique in Test cricket.

Gill's sorry state of affairs in Test cricket

Gill is a curious case when it comes to Test cricket. He has performed exceedingly well in white-ball but even after making his Test debut in 2020, he is yet to truly justify his place in the side.

In 32 matches, the youngster has amassed 1893 runs, at an average of 35. The maverick batter had a promising start to his red-ball career after a glorious 91 in the 4th innings run-chase at Gabba but that has only been his highlight reel when it comes to scoring in tough conditions.

Gill struggles in Tests Gill struggles in Tests

Moreover, his struggles in English conditions and against the moving ball are known to everyone. The batter just doesn't ooze confidence when playing in overcast English conditions and the stats do tell the sorry state of affairs. In 3 matches, he has only accumulated 88 runs, at an average of 14.66. This is a worrying sign as the team embarks on a new journey with a new leader at helm.


Why Gill struggles in English conditions?

There are two glaring weaknesses that Gill has when it comes to playing Test cricket in England. First, when the ball swings away from the righty batter, he tends to play with hard hands and often decides to chase the ball away from his body - something which his idol, Virat Kohli did during his infamous 2014 tour of England.

Gill getting bowled Gill getting bowled

Second, when the ball nips back in, he leaves a huge gap between the bat and pad and it allows the ball to either strike the pad or the stumps. The upcoming 5-game series will be Gill's toughest test in Test cricket and he should learn the two P's from his idol, Kohli on how to play against the moving ball in England.

The two P's Gill should learn from Kohli

During Kohli's first Test tour of England in 2014, the batter had similar weaknesses as Gill and James Anderson made him his bunny. Prior to the series, Kohli had hundreds in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa but England was a different challenge and he failed, accumulating just 134 runs in 10 innings.

However, what he did on the next England tour should be a life lesson for Gill. In 2018, he was the captain of the side and was at the peak of his powers, scoring runs everywhere, barring England. He entered the first Test in Birmingham with a chorus of boos but when he left the field after getting dismissed, the batter received a rousing reception. The reason - he had conquered the demons of England.

Kohli scored 149 at Edgbaston Kohli scored 149 at Edgbaston

How did he conquer it? By following the two P's - perseverance and patience. No matter the situation, he was determined to succeed. The then-India captain was dropped a couple of times but he stood tall and notched up a brilliant 149.

He also showed a lot of patience by leaving deliveries outside the off, something which troubled him on the past tour. The bowlers kept on bowling him outside the off stump and he kept on waiting for the right deliveries to punish. In the entire series, he slammed two majestic hundreds and racked up nearly 600 runs, including two centuries. This is what Gill needs to learn from Kohli. Stay patient and your time will come to score runs in testing English conditions. But can Gill follow in Kohli's footsteps? Only time will tell.