Expectations, workloads and a touch of self-awareness
Shubman Gill returned from England with a lot of credit in the bank. He went there wanting to be the best batter in the series and walked the talk with 754 runs. He juggled resources, workloads and tight calls as well as any first-time captain could on a tough away tour. Then a curveball rattled his cage in his first home assignment.
Between Day 2 and 3 of the Delhi Test last month, West Indies batted 81.5 overs and showed real improvement from the meek surrender in Ahmedabad. On a benign surface, Gill went aggressive and enforced the follow-on, keeping his bowlers out on the field for longer. The game dragged into the fifth day as tired legs gave way to some lethargic spells. The win eventually arrived, but as did a lesson.
"Looking back in hindsight, after bowling 80-90 overs (81.5) and then giving them follow on, I think it was quite challenging on our bowlers," Gill opined on the eve of the Kolkata Test against South Africa. "On a wicket where there wasn't much happening for the spinners... I think it was kind of a slow wicket, and as the game went on, the wicket got even more slower.
"In entirety, I think we bowled about 200 overs at one stretch (200.4), so obviously the bowlers get tired after a point and you don't get the same zip from the spinners, and on a wicket like that, my learning was that after fielding for 90 overs, maybe we could have batted and then given them batting after that."
The self-awareness is refreshing for a captain who is bound to find himself in similar situations at home. There will be long days of cricket that drag on under the harsh sun, where the need to keep his wits about himself will distinguish him from a good and a great leader. Gill got away with a decision like that against West Indies, but even he would admit - with all his self-awareness - that a better opponent could've capitalised and eked out a draw from under his nose.
It's still early days to put a finger on Gill's true style of Test captaincy, but preliminary evidence suggests a lot of instinctive, on-the-fly calls. By his own admission, the focus for him is on succeeding as a batter first.
"I think in my preparations, I mainly focus on how I can succeed as a batter, and then when we are there on the field, I like my instincts to take over whenever I'm out there captaining my side. That's when I feel I make the best decisions for the team tactically," Gill offered. It's his way of rationalising his batting and captaincy, so that the wires don't intertwine and mess with both processes.
Indian cricket history is replete with evidence supporting the old cliche of a captain only being as good as his resources. Virat Kohli, for instance, enjoyed the perfect blend of two unplayable spinners and a pace battery at the peak of their powers, on his way to becoming India's most successful skipper in the format. For Gill, having the pick of effective all-rounders seems the preferred fit.
"I consider myself very fortunate that all the all-rounders are such good batters. You can take anyone's record, Axar Patel's or Washington's or Jaddu bhai's. Their bowling and batting record are very good, especially in India, so as a captain it is very difficult as to who you want to play and who you don't," he said. The said all-rounders also give him superiority as spinners over what South Africa recently tamed in Pakistan.
"Definitely on a wicket where it's spinning, the ball needs a little bit of time to spin. So off the wicket generally, unless you're playing on a red soil wicket, the pace is a little bit slower. So if your bowlers are bowling at a quicker pace, it gives the batters a little bit less time to adjust. And the balls actually which are not turning become more dangerous because they come at a much faster speed, rather than the ones that are turning," Gill summarised. All of his all-rounders at the moment - Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel, tick all those boxes.
Gill now holds strategic roles in all three formats for India as he leads in two and deputises in the third. Kuldeep Yadav is the only other regular all-format player from the potential XI for the Kolkata Test. Even his selection is often subject to conditions, as was seen in England.
"I would say I am still trying to figure out how to manage it," he said of his own workload. Gill featured in all five T20Is in Australia that went on till November 8 before arriving in Kolkata to spearhead the Test team. "I think starting from the Asia Cup, we have been playing kind of back-to-back, travelling to different countries, switching between formats within 4-5 days. So I am also trying to figure out what gives me the best chance to be able to perform and succeed in all those formats that I am going to play. But the challenge is definitely more mental than it is physical. I think as a professional cricketer you know that these challenges will be thrown at you, and how you tackle them defines your greatness," he said.
While back at home, Gill's captaincy docket is at the very least, clear of workload woes for his ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Gill had to navigate around a pre-decided participation plan for Bumrah in England, but home conditions offer the captain the chance to release any such handbrakes.
"When we are playing in countries like England, Australia, South Africa, the workload on fast bowlers is relatively higher as compared to when we are playing in India. But having said that, the fast bowlers also recognise the spells that they bowl here - if the ball is reversing, it would be 4-5 overs, which they would bowl at full throttle. Whereas, if you are playing in a country like England where the fast bowlers are going to bowl the majority of the overs, the workload kind of increases.
"I think these are the things which he (Bumrah) also recognises and we as a team also recognise that when we are playing in India, the load on the fast bowlers wouldn't be as much as compared to spinners or as compared to some of the other countries when we are playing outside."
