‘You automatically do well…’: Shubman Gill emphasizes Test cricket as Foundation stone for a strong cricket set-up

“I think it’s the ICC’s decision whether there should be a two-tier system or not. But I feel as a cricketing nation, whoever plays cricket, if your red-ball base is very strong, then you automatically do well in ODIs and T20s. If you look at any of the teams, England, Australia, if the Test teams are very good, it’s a natural thing that your one-day and T20 teams will do well. I don’t know, maybe their (West Indies) players’ focus is more on T20 and leagues. So if your focus is on that, then the base from where the game has started, when you forget that, then the struggle of any country starts from there,” Gill said on the eve of the second Test.

Asked if the quality of opposition affects his players’ intensity, Shubman Gill replied that his side is way too focused on its own tasks and they only want to play at their own intensity with the intention to win. Gill even mentioned that when the team is representing India, there is no need of external motivation as they don’t care who they are facing.

“I don’t think your intensity drops depending on the opposition. It doesn’t matter who we are playing. We want to be able to play at our own intensity and we want to win. When you are playing for India, you don’t need external motivation to up your intensity. It doesn’t matter who we are playing. We want to maintain our own standards,” Gill concluded.