ENG v IND 2021: Shubman Gill feels assessing conditions, playing out sessions will be key to success in England

Gill played a key role in India's Test series win Down Under earlier this year.

Shubman Gill, who is widely deemed as the next poster boy of Indian cricket, proved his mettle in the longest format of the game in his very first Test series against Australia.

Gill made his Test debut at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground and played an instrumental role in India’s 2-1 Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 triumph Down Under.

The right-hander amassed 259 runs at an impressive average of 51.80, including a fourth innings 91 to script the visitors’ three-wicket victory in the decider at the Gabba.

As Shubman is gearing up to tour England for the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the five-Test series against the hosts, he said assessing conditions and playing out sessions will be key for him in England.

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"As an opener, not just in England but everywhere, you need to know how to play out sessions. Playing sessions is very important. It has been seen in England that whenever it is cloudy, the ball swings a lot. When there is sun, the pitch becomes good for batting. It is necessary to assess conditions as opener," he said while speaking to India TV.

The 21-year-old added that India's performance Down Under will bolster their confidence during the England tour.

"Our performance in Australia was very good. Over the last few years, we have been doing very well on away tours, so our confidence is very high. I think we can't be better prepared for the World Test Championship (WTC) final than this," he remarked.

Gills acknowledged that facing world-class fast bowlers at the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) nets has boosted his confidence.

"It helps a lot when you play good bowlers in nets and play them for a long period of time. Your confidence is very high. Like in our KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) team, we had good bowlers like Ferguson and Cummins," he further said.

"Definitely, you get high on confidence. When you go out and play a match, you know what they'll bowl. Those things matter."

The Punjab lad is currently serving quarantine with the Indian team in Mumbai.

"Quarantine period is very tough because for 14 days you are only in one room, with not much to do. But we still do workouts in our rooms and keep ourselves busy in some way or the other. We watch movies on I-Pad. Otherwise, we play games, do workouts and try and keep ourselves as busy as possible. Quarantine is very hard," Gill said.