'Stepped down to unsettle spinners: Gill on how he negated Bangladesh tweakers

Shubman Gill on Saturday went oldschool in using his feet to nullify Bangladesh spinners on a pitch that had a hint of variable bounce and the India batter said it was a part of his meticulous approach to unsettle the visiting tweakersGill made an unbeaten 119 that led India to 287 for four declared in their second innings for a hefty overall lead of 514 on the third day of the IND vs BAN 1st TestldquoInitially when I used to practice especially against spinners I used to step down trying to rotate Its the same here because its hard for bowlers to settle on a wicket like this where the odd one is turning but not all the balls are turningrdquo Gill told reporters in the postday press meetThat strategy was on view when he stepped out to hammer offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz for a six in the 64th over while a few overs earlier he meted out the same treatment to Shakib AlHasanOn that occasion Gill shimmied down to slap a flighted delivery from the leftarm spinner to the fence to collect four runsGill said he has been training to use his feet against the spinners from a very young age and kept adding new layers as the age advancedldquoIts something that I started practising when I was very young because I was always a tall guy So it was easier for me to use my feet and play along the ground Playing in the air and hitting sixes actually came a bit later when I got a little bit more power in my bodyrdquo he explainedldquoDefinitely scoring runs against any opposition gives you a lot of confidence and thats what I have been working on So it scoring against spinners gives me a lot of satisfaction I practiced a lot before the seriesrdquo Gill addedThe dayrsquos hundred was Gillrsquos third ton in his last eight Test innings with the other two coming against England at Visakhapatnam and Dharamsala earlier this yearThe 25yearold admitted that the series against the Three Lions where he scored nearly 500 runs has boosted his selfbelief in the longest formatldquoI think the series that I had against England gave me a lot of confidence I felt it was a long time coming for me especially batting at that position No 3 And having got out the way I got out in the first innings down the legside I was obviously very disappointedldquoBut it further motivated me to be able to spend a lot of time on the crease and put extra value on my wicket I think my best is yet to comerdquo he notedAlso ReadPant Gill put India in command with emotional hundredsGill lauds Pant However Gill was not alone in his venture at Chepauk as Rishabh Pant supported him from the other end in the IND vs BAN 1st Test making a hundred for himselfPant is playing a Test match for the first time since that lifethreatening car accident in 2022 and Gill was happy for his teammateldquoI have spent a lot of time with him on and off the field and watching him score his first 50 and first 100 after his comeback gives me so much pleasureldquoI have seen him work so hard for it when he was coming back from the injury and I think he also must be feeling really goodrdquo said GillFun moments also have no dearth when these two effervescent young men batting out in the middleThe little moments of celebrations between Pant and Gill had this unusual pattern of ndash two taps of gloves and one tap of the batsGill explained it amidst a peel of laughterldquoI was telling him not to hit bat twice because Im playing with a bat that I played against England My bat is quite oldldquoHe was hitting my bat so hard I was telling him that Im trying to save my batrdquo Gill giggledWith agency inputs