‘Still head, perfect balance of the body’: Shubman Gill’s father assesses son’s straight six off James Anderson | Cricket News

The hundred in Dharamsala, matched in grandeur only the backdrop of the Dhauladhar Ranges, was the crowning glory of Shubman Gill in a series that displayed the tougher side of him. From the verge of being dropped, he has struck two hundreds and as many fifties to reassert his stakes as the torchbearer of Indian batting in the future. His father and first coach Lakhwinder Singh reflects on the three shots and a no-shot-offered that made him proud as a father and left him pleased as a coach.
Lofted-driven straight six off James Anderson (33.2, Gill moved from 27 to 33):
The length of the ball was such that he couldn’t have played it along the ground. It had to be aerial. You can’t plan such shots, it comes naturally. Gill often plays such shots. The key is to keep your head still. Your body should have the perfect balance. Even a slight imbalance could hamper the head position. All his life I have taught him to play straight and keep the eye behind the ball. Had the ball been low, he could have played it along the ground. Anderson extracted bounce. But Gill has used his crease (charged down the ground). So he was in a position to lift the ball straight over the head. He middled the ball, timed it so perfectly that it had the momentum to soar over the ropes. The shot did not surprise me. He has played it so many times.
Biffed six off Shoaib Bashir through mid-wicket (52.6, 81 to 87):
He has good game sense and knows his strengths and weaknesses. The pitch offered some turn and Gill likes to get behind the ball. He was using his feet nicely today. Bashir was playing some mind games. He was changing his line and length and had kept fielders in the deep. Gill was playing every stroke with the turn. He wasn’t trying to play against the spin. On such a pitch, one cannot take the risk of playing against the turn. As the ball can turn, it can be low, so the safest option is to play with the spin. He hit the six with the turn too. He knew there were fielders in the deep. But he had picked his spot.

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I feel the thing which was missing before this series was that he was not stepping out of his crease (to the spinners). Since junior days he has been using his feet nicely to the spinners. He likes to attack and this has been his natural game. The confidence he got in past games has helped. He was timing the ball well and was seeing it. It was the day where he was getting everything right. He had ticked all boxes but I felt if the score was less, he could get more.
Shubman Gill in action. (Reuters)
Push-driven four off Mark Wood through mid-on (47.2 overs 62 to 69):
Shubman’s arms were flowing nicely into the shots and he was middling each ball. The England bowlers were trying to stop him and they had plans. Wood packed the leg-side. He even had a leg-slip in place. He tried to double-bluff Shubman. But he showed immense presence of mind and didn’t fall for the trap. He didn’t bother about the fielders. He played the ball as per its merit. It showed that he had his own plans, he wanted to play a certain style of cricket today and he did it with confidence.

A leave off Wood (146kph, short ball, 41.4, Gill on 53):
He is a world class bowler. But muscle memory rescued Shubman. He decided to leave the ball at the last minute. If you have noticed, it’s because of his perfect head position and balance. His eyes were on the ball, which helped him to get out of the line quickly. The game sense helped him. He played some of the shots very late. He waited for the ball to come to him.