India captain Shubman Gill is looking forward to leading the side in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle starting Saturday. The match has extra significance as it’s the team’s 600th in the longest format.
Gill addressed the media on the eve of the match and said it was a matter of great pride for him that he was leading the team in its 600th Test and that too on the nation’s Independence Day on August 15.
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“Any Test match that you captain for your country [has a lot of importance]. Obviously, leading my country in our 600th Test match is a big honour and privilege for me and doing that on Independence Day, it is even more special for us.”
India at present are fifth on the World Test Championship points table and will have to do really well in their remaining matches in the cycle before the finalists are decided. Gill is optimistic his side can do it and believes that good results in the two Tests against Sri Lanka can be the beginning of that run.
“I think the kind of way we have been progressing in the past year has been very pleasing to see from my perspective, and I think we are taking all the right steps in the right direction. Obviously, the main goal is to play the World Test Championship final, which is next year, and we have about nine Tests, and I think we have to win around six or seven to be able to have a good chance at qualifying. So, in terms of that, I think this is a very important series for us, and we have had the right kind of preparation leading up to the series,” he said.
Unlike many series in the past, this time India have had some preparation time. They reached Sri Lanka 10 days before the first Test to acclimatise to the conditions. Plus, they played a three-day warm-up against Sri Lanka Cricket XI, which they won. 26-year-old Gill said this is going to help his team for sure going into the series.
“So, if we do have an opportunity and if the scheduling allows us to have at least a week or 10 days before the Test match starts, it obviously helps with the preparation and even last year we had a quite busy scheduling in terms of travelling, playing in England, then playing the Asia Cup, then playing the Test matches in India [against the West Indies], going to Australia [for white-ball series] and then playing the Test match within four days from coming back from Australia [against South Africa, a series which the Indians lost 2-0].
“So, it is never easy for the players to be able to adapt, and most of the players in this team, I think, require a bit of time to be able to adjust to the conditions, and it is not like a lot of the players have a lot of matches or a lot of experience under their belt. So, the extra time in preparation definitely helps.”