The Indian team has put its best foot forward at the ongoing ICC ODI World Cup each time it has gone out to represent the proud nation on the international stage on home soil and the contributions from stylish Indian opener Shubman Gill at the top of the order has played a crucial role as India remain yet unbeaten at the ICC showpiece after 5 games.
The 24-year-old’s skill with a willow in hand is well established by this point as he has produced one enthralling innings after the other across formats in recent times.
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A huge part of Gill’s rise to the forefront of Indian cricket has to be attributed to the mental fortitude and tenacity of the youngster. The self-belief and resilience the opener has exhibited early in his fledgling career is a positive sign for the national team’s fortunes.
During a recent interview, the batsman opined that he trusts his game and is not easily deterred by setbacks, which are part and parcel of the game.
“I don’t feel that three or four bad innings mean that I have to go back to the nets and change something. That means that you don’t trust your game. You have to have that trust,” the 24-year-old said.
“For me, it’s about telling myself, OK, you didn’t score in three games, so you’re going to get a big score in the next three. It doesn’t always work, I am aware, but that is my attitude,” he asserted.
“If you go into every game with the same mindset, the same with which you went into the first game, then you will do well. Even if you have a couple of bad matches. But if you keep changing your mindset because you didn’t do well, then you’re bound to have more bad games than good ones.”
“You need to trust the mindset you had going into the first game of a series or a tournament. Don’t change it. That is very tough, believe me,” he continued.
“That is where mental toughness comes in, which not enough people understand. It is very easy to slump into that world of ‘I didn’t do well in the last three matches’, ‘I went out in such and such a manner’, and so on. The question is: Can you be the same even after not doing well? Can you bring the same approach to the game after failure? Can you have the same intent? If you do, then you are going to have more good days than bad ones. Or, I can say, you will be more satisfied with yourself. You’ll have fewer regrets.”
Gill, who has been touted as the next big thing in the world of cricket, has demonstrated time and again since the beginning of the year why the boy from Fazilka is rated as highly as he is by pundits and admirers alike.
The year 2023 has been an absolute treat for each fan who has opted to jump on the Gill bandwagon as the right-handed batsman topped the run-scoring charts in the season’s money-rich T20 franchise league, the IPL, as he ended the season as the second-highest scorer in the history of the tournament in a single edition, only behind Virat Kohli’s astronomical season back in the year 2016.
He has carried his stupendous form into the national as he played an important role in India’s triumphant Asia Cup campaign leading up to the World Cup and has also replicated his fine touch at the biggest stage of all as India holds on to the hope of bringing the coveted trophy back home for the first time since 2011.
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