India vs New Zealand, 1st Test: Didn’t expect Jamieson would reverse the ball so early: Shubman Gill

India
vs
New
Zealand
1st
Test,
Day
1
Highlights:
Shreyas
Iyer,
Jadeja
century-stand
takes
India
to
258/4

Opener
Shubman
Gill
gave
the
hosts
a
strong
start
with
a
steady
52
off
93,
before
Kiwi
pacer
Kyle
Jamieson
and
Tim
Southee
rocked
the
Indian
line-up
post
lunch.
Bowled
by
Jamieson
in
the
30th
over,
Gill
was
all
praise
for
Jamieson’s
vicious
in-dipper
that
breached
his
defences.
Gill
admitted
he
failed
to
read
the
delivery
as
he
wasn’t
expecting
reverse
swing
just
after
lunch.

1

51919

After
the
end
of
day’s
play,
Gill
said,
“I
think
he
(Jamieson)
bowled
pretty
well
today
especially
in
the
first
spell,
he
bowled
pretty
good
areas
to
me
and
after
lunch,
the
whole
spell
that
he
bowled
was
top
notch.”

Talking
about
his
dismissal,
Gill
said
the
problem
with
his
dismissal
was
the
early
reverse
swing
as
the
ball
was
only
30
overs
old.
“Sometimes,
it’s
difficult
to
start
knowing
when
it’s
reverse-swinging
and
especially
after
coming
back
from
lunch,
I
didn’t
expect
the
ball
to
reverse
that
early
in
the
game,”
Gill
said.

“That’s
the
thing
about
Test
cricket,
you
have
to
read
the
conditions
fast.
In
this
particular
innings,
I
wasn’t
able
to
read
that
ball
well
as
generally,
I
wasn’t
expecting
the
ball
to
reverse.”

On
the
day,
he
handled
New
Zealand’s
spin
duo
of
Ajaz
Patel
and
Will
Somerville
with
ease
and
he
attributed
it
to
playing
Ravichandran
Ashwin
and
Ravindra
Jadeja
in
the
nets.
“If
you
are
already
playing
two
of
the
best
spinners
in
nets,
especially
in
India,
it
does
help,
because
if
you
try
to
negotiate
them,
you
have
a
much
better
chance
of
going
in
the
middle
of
the
match
and
trying
to
handle
those
crucial
periods
of
time.”

Talking
about
debutant
Shreyas
Iyer,
who
steadied
the
ship
after
India
lost
three
wicket
post-lunch,
Gill
hailed
Iyer’s
important
knock.
Furthermore,
the
opener
said
playing
in
front
of
fans
after
so
long,
who
were
kept
out
due
to
Covid-19
pandemic,
was
an
added
bonus.

“Obviously,
it
felt
good,
to
be
able
to
play
a
match
in
India
with
crowd
back
and
we
are
looking
forward
towards
the
rest
of
match.”

While
he
has
opened
the
batting,
Gill
reminded
that
if
need
be,
he
can
bat
in
the
middle-order
too.
“I
have
opened
for
(my)
state
team,
India
A
in
first-class
matches,
in
other
countries,
I
have
batted
in
middle
order
as
well,
it’s
more
on
the
mental
side
rather
than
technique.”

Meanwhile,
talking
about
new
head
coach
Rahul
Dravid,
Gill
said
he’s
enjoying
the
fact
that
Dravid
is
now
at
the
helm,
someone
who
has
mentored
him
in
his
formative
years
in
age
group
cricket.
“It
does
make
a
difference
when
you
gave
played
age-group
cricket
under
him.
You
would
know
what
to
expect
from
that
person.
Rahul
sir
was
with
us
throughout
our
Under-19
days
and
not
just
the
World
Cup
but
the
entire
journey
we
had,”
he
signed
off.

India
ended
the
opening
day
in
control
as
Iyer
and
Jadeja
steadied
the
ship
after
the
hosts
lost
quick
wickets
after
lunch.
The
hosts
ended
the
day
with
Iyer
and
Jadeja
still
at
the
crease
and
will
hope
to
the
duo
pick
up
from
where
they
left
off
when
the
second
day
get
underway
on
Friday.

(With
inputs
from
PTI)