Shubman Gill faces moment of truth in English challenge

If you're Shubman Gill walking in at No. 3 for India, the last thing you would probably want to see is a fired-up Kagiso Rabada sending the Indian captain back for a duck with his off-stump cartwheeling. That was the situation the youngster found himself in as the visitors trailed by a massive 157 runs in their second innings in Centurion last December.

However, Gill's trademark front-foot pull shot, followed by a wristy flick through the mid-wicket region off a Rabada who had his tail up just showed why the right-hander is rated so highly. He gradually started India's fightback alongside Virat Kohli and grew in confidence with every shot.

The two cover drives off Marco Jansen's bowling were good enough for anyone to utter the words 'What a shot, what a player!' Shubman Gill seemed on a mission to live up to his promise and it looked like a coming-of-age innings. However, the joy was short-lived.

In the same over, Gill played all around a straight ball and found his stumps rattled. He stood there in disbelief, realizing he had thrown away an opportunity to step up when the team needed him the most.

The two boundaries off Jansen, followed by a wicket off almost a half-volley summed up Shubman Gill's Test career so far at No. 3 in a nutshell.

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Shubman Gill's transition to No. 3 hasn't been ideal

Earlier last year, Shubman Gill smashed a brilliant hundred against Australia in Ahmedabad in the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and went into the World Test Championship (WTC) final as India's first-choice opener.

Come the West Indies tour, the visitors had moved on from Cheteshwar Pujara at No. 3. Amidst rumors of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal being tested at the spot, Gill spoke to the captain and the coach about wanting to bat at No. 3.

Having made his Test debut as an opener, there still seemed to be an air of inevitability about Shubman Gill sliding down the order at some stage. It was probably because of his technique against the moving ball, going for his shots with hard hands that more often than not led to his downfall.

However, there isn't much difference between opening and batting at No. 3 in Test cricket in terms of the need to be technically solid. Be it a hard push to getting caught in the slips off left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, or a feather down the leg side to the wicketkeeper off Nandre Burger, Gill has understood the importance of being technically solid the hard way.

In five Tests at No. 3, Shubman Gill has scored just 166 runs at an average of 23.71 with a highest score of 47. He is someone who likes to go for his shots but needs to mix it up with a tinge of caution. He needs to show a bit of patience as he has all the shots in the book needed to explode once he settles.

Who better to learn the art of patience at No. 3 than from the head coach Rahul Dravid, who has arguably been the finest India has produced at that position?

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Virat Kohli's absence presents Shubman Gill a chance to take center stage

Head coach Rahul Dravid was pretty relaxed when asked about how India would deal with Virat Kohli's absence for the first two Tests against England. He believes it is an opportunity for others in the team to step up, and Shubman Gill is certainly one of them.

Dravid also threw his weight behind Gill despite his recent Test form and shed light on the nature of the pitches the youngster has been batting on. That's another interesting aspect, especially given India's commitment to producing rank-turners at home.

Shubman Gill averages just 32.07 in eight Tests at home, with the solitary hundred against Australia coming on a rather true batting pitch. The Indian batters have shown a tendency to not play spin well on such tracks, with the capitulation in Indore against Australia last year being a reality check.

Attack is indeed the best form of defense on such pitches, giving Gill a potential chance of scoring his runs in the Test series against England. However, the 24-year-old needs to identify the moments where he should attack and where he should just absorb the pressure.

In Kohli's absence, India needs big runs from Shubman Gill and it will only keep the latter in good stead given the competition for spots. Averaging just 30.58 after 20 Test matches, there must be some pressure on Gill to come good against Stokes and Co.

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For the first two Tests, the hosts might go with a 3-4-5 of Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer & KL Rahul. However, once Kohli is back, only two of the three batters could be a part of the XI, which should give even more importance to their performances in the period when the former Indian captain won't be available.

Gill, who had announced his arrival with a crucial 91 at the Gabba back in January 2021, is set to face the moment of truth almost exactly three years later. Another opportunity has come Gill's way, with the team management backing him to the hilt.

However, this backing has to be repaid with performance at some point, and what a time it would be to perform in the absence of arguably India's best Test batter in the past decade. It is about time that the 'Prince' lives up to the promise and delivers a performance that the 'King' would be proud of.