Gill on India's scheduling: Ensure adequate preparation time before Test series

Last year, India played the Asia Cup final in Dubai on September 28 and their first Test against West Indies at home on October 2. Then they played their last T20I in Australia on November 8 and their first Test against South Africa at home on November 14. They were whitewashed 2-0 in the South Africa Tests. India's Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill has suggested that the BCCI avoid a repeat of such scheduling, especially before Test series, and more so when a switch from limited-overs cricket to Tests is involved.

On Saturday, the eve of India's first ODI against New Zealand in Vadodara, Gill was asked if the BCCI had asked for his inputs on how they can improve in Tests.

"One of the suggestions that I was very keen on is, if you would see in the last two Test series that we played, we didn't have that much time to prepare," Gill said. "It's not easy playing another match in a different country and then playing in India on the fourth day. Especially when you're traveling on long tours.

"I feel even if we would have won the series against South Africa, it still wouldn't have made that much of a difference [in terms of adequate preparation] because we know we need to prepare well to be able to win Test matches all over the world. Preparation for me is really big, and I didn't think that we had that much time to prepare when we came back from Australia, or even after the Asia Cup when we played the West Indies series.

"I think it's important to at least have some bit of preparation, some time [to prepare]. Especially when changing from white-ball format to red-ball. So this was one of the things that I was very keen on, and I think we'll take some action and we'll keep it in mind to be able to prepare well before the start of any red-ball series."

The Test-series defeat to South Africa was India's second whitewash at home in 12 months after they had gone 12 years without losing a home series at all. Gill was asked if he felt players needed to be rested for certain formats so as to be prepared for Tests, given the tight calendar. Then again, India are just coming off 22 days without any international cricket, which points to a lopsided planning.

"Maybe it would be easier to have a little loose calendar," Gill said. "I don't think in 2016, 2017, 2018, there was a time when if you're coming from another country [back] to India, you're playing a match on the fourth day. Maybe it's easier to play a match on the 10th day. Maybe it's easier to play a match on the 12th day. It gives a bit of breather for the players as well, and it gives you that time to prepare and feel confident for the next series."

In recent months, Gill has been one of the few India players on the treadmill of playing all three formats. It is not yet known if a break could have pretended the neck injury he sustained during the first Test against South Africa, which practically reduced the match to a 10-vs-11 contest. He missed the subsequent ODIs, and then lost his spot in the T20 World Cup squad, not long after being named vice-captain in T20Is.

Gill has been more successful in coming to terms with not being part of that squad than with the Test defeats. "I believe I am right where I have to be in my life," Gill said. "Whatever is in my destiny, nobody can take it away from me. Obviously as a player, you believe that if you play the World Cup, you can win it for your team, for your country. Having said that, I respected the selectors' decision. And wishing the T20 team all the very best, and I really, really hope that they win the World Cup for us."