Gabba test: ‘Gill hai ke manta nahin’, does India, tricity proud

Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

Mohali, January 19

Mohali lad Shubman Gill’s sensational 91 off 146 balls under trying conditions on Day 5 of the fourth Test against Australia at the Gabba, Brisbane, brought delight to India and the tricity early in the morning today.

India won the match and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and the Punjab batsman played a significant role in the historic victory as the opener.

The highlight of Gill’s innings was his onslaught (16 runs: 6, 4, 5, NB, 1) on Australian pacer Mitchell Starc in the 46th over. Later, Nathan Lyon induced an edge from Gill and got him out at the slips in the 48th over.

Gill later tweeted, “There’s only one way to keep a team happy, keep winning.”

Big names such as Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border had been raving about Gill’s skill as an opener even before he made his debut in the series. He has so much time to play his shots even while facing the quickest of bowlers, Gill’s coaches and Punjab teammates aver. The 21-year-old has batted with great poise and showed a remarkable temperament beyond his age. Gill’ drives, pulls and cuts are thrilling, but it his rock-solid defence which has been sensational throughout the series.

His father Lakhwinder Singh said, “We are happy that he played his part when the team needed it the most.”

Former India opener Virender Sehwag was in thrall of Gill’s handling of quick deliveries after the first session of the play and tweeted, ‘’Australia gave it everything in the session, but they must be saying ‘Gill hai ke manta nahin (Gill doesn’t give up).’ Great start to the day for India, two more of such sessions and we retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the third time in succession,” tagging a photo of Bollywood movie poster ‘Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin’.

Gill scored 259 runs at an average of 51.80 with two fifties in the three Tests in his debut series. At one point of time in the fourth Test, he was the highest scorer for India in the series but Rishabh Pant overtook him later.

Some of the diehard cricket fans put Gill’s 91 on par with Sachin Tendulkar’s 114 at WACA in February 1992.

Former India batsman Mohammad Kaif tweeted, “... this boy Shubman has shown that he is the one for the future, well played young man.”

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