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News

Shubman Gill: 'The game loses its essence' without help for bowlers

India captain believes the Dukes ball going soft and the pitches being flat are taking away from the fun of Test cricket

Sidharth Monga
Sidharth Monga
06-Jul-2025 • 13 hrs ago
Shubman Gill feels the combination of flat pitches and the quick-to-go-soft Dukes ball is taking away from the essence of Test cricket in England.
After India managed to take 20 wickets - 15 of them in bursts with three new balls - to level the series 1-1, he was asked what he thought of these conditions that happen to have coincided with the Bazball era in England.
"It gets very difficult for the bowlers," Gill said. "Even more than the [pitch], the ball is going soft and out of shape very quickly. I don't know what it is - weather, [pitches] or whatever - but it gets very difficult for the bowlers to get wickets in these conditions. As a team, when you know it is difficult to get wickets and runs are coming easily, a lot of things are out of your control.
"I think there should be a little help at least. If the ball is doing something, you enjoy playing. If you know there is only 20 overs of any help and then you have to spend the rest of the day on the defensive, thinking how to stop runs, then the game loses its essence."
Gill, though, joked that he didn't mind the relief as a batter after having had a baptism in spicier conditions around the world. In the first Test at Headingley, in pretty much similar conditions, India left runs out in the middle through some casual batting from the lower order. Gill took it upon himself to lead by example after having holed out on 147 in the first innings of the previous Test.
"Sometimes, especially when you are the captain, I think you need to lead by example so that whenever there is another player in that situation, you can command to that player," Gill said after scoring 269 and 161 at Edgbaston. "This is what the team requires right now and you always have to put the team first rather than your personal desires. Or sometimes you want to try some things, but I think if you put the team ahead of you, you will always walk in the right direction or walk on the right path and that's what I wanted to do in this match.
"If a good ball gets me out, it gets me out, but as long as I'm there, I want to play as long as possible."
Having seen the might of India's batting somewhere near its ruthless best, Gill joked he didn't expect England to roll out such a flat track again. That was when he was asked whether he missed Kuldeep Yadav's wristspin during those dreadful middle overs. He said it wasn't easy for him to leave out a bowler of the quality of Kuldeep, but he felt he needed a bit of the batting depth that Washington Sundar could - and did - provide.
India are not used to playing such long Test matches. The tracks at home aid spin, and when India play away, they are handed green seamers. When asked what he had learnt from these rare back-to-back Tests that practically went to the last session, Gill said India were pleased most of the time was spent by them batting.
"Definitely helped us in a massive way," Gill said. "I would say [there are] not many Test matches when we play in India [that] go for five days. But, luckily, most of the days when we are playing here, we are batting and not fielding, so that's good for us. Even in the first innings, I think we fielded for about 90 overs, which is about a day. So I think that's good. I think even in the series, in the upcoming matches, if you're able to score runs consistently and post around 400 or 300 totals, we will always be in the game."
Gill was full of praise for the bowlers that made sure that India didn't have to field for too long. "They were absolutely magnificent for us," Gill said of Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj. "[They] took 16-17 [17] wickets [together]. That itself is a big, big achievement coming into this Test match, especially without Jasprit [Bumrah] bhai. There were a lot of questions if we would be able to take those 20 wickets. And the way these two guys delivered was just outstanding. I have no words to describe."
Gill said these were the best players in the country, and he believed that any bowling combination selected from the squad of 16 would be able to take 20 wickets anywhere in the world.

Sidharth Monga is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo