Shubman Gill undergoes special training before ‘first’ Test at Eden Gardens against South Africa; ‘it's very big honour’

Shubman Gill might be one of the best batters going around in world cricket currently in Tests, but the right-hander has struggled a lot, especially against the left-arm tweakers. With the South African squad possessing two left-arm spinners in Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy, Gill certainly needed special training to combat the duo.

Having made his Test debut in 2020, Gill averages 43.01 in the longest format in 39 matches so far. But against the left-arm spinners, the right-handers average drops to around 30, which is noticeably lower. In fact, Gill has fallen approximately 12 times to left-arm slow bowlers to date.

With the South African challenge coming up, Gill underwent an intensive batting session against the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel on Wednesday at the Eden Gardens, under the watchful eyes of head coach Gautam Gambhir. Axar and Kuldeep are the two left-arm spinners in the Indian squad. Ravindra Jadeja is another left-arm spinner for India.

No doubt Gill's weakness against left-arm spin is a technical issue. Former India spinner Pragyan Ojha had once advised Gill to shorten his back-lift and bring the bat down as early as possible.

‘Very big honour to lead India at Eden Gardens’

Gill has a long connection with Kolkata, especially with Eden Gardens. The current Indian ODI and Test captain began his Indian Premier League career with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2018, shortly after leading the Indian U-19 team to victory in the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand.

He played for KKR till 2021 before shifting base to the Gujarat Titans. In fact, Gill will be playing his first-ever Test match at this iconic venue. “I cherish a lot of memories here (Eden Gardens). My IPL career started here, and this is one ground,” Gill said on Thursday on the eve of the first Test.

“Whenever I come here, I definitely feel like I do at PCA (Punjab Cricket Association) training when we are playing in Punjab. It's a similar feeling. We are playing a match here after a six-year hiatus. I think the last Test match that we did was the pink-ball test match,” he added.

“I wasn't part of the test match, but I was part of the squad. So it is my first test match here in Eden Gardens, and it is a very big honour for me to be able to lead my country here,” concluded Gill.