Shubman Gill has just one problem with his batting: the slow weight transfer onto the front foot. Twice this ODI series, he has paid for that mistake off Kagiso Rabada. In the past, in Indian conditions again, Kyle Jamieson (twice), James Anderson and Mohammed Shami (in the IPL) have penalised Shubman Gill for the same error, cleaning up the sticks.
It’s fascinating how this seemingly small problem has remained unrectified for a few years now. Gill has such a lovely all-round game, so adept against bounce and superb against spin – R Ashwin rates him one of the toughest batsmen to bowl to – that many commentators turn wishy-washy when addressing this issue. It does feel a small matter to bring up on air, or print, but it’s there, staring at us all. It still doesn’t seem a big deal, not an insurmountable problem, but it’s also fascinating to track how a young talented batsman deals with it. It’s sort of a problem that once you see it as an observer, it becomes difficult to unsee.
Shubman Gill during IPL. (IPL)
It’s been written on these pages before but here is a brief reminder. It stems from his childhood training on cement tracks. On cement, the backfoot becomes an instinctive play, and the front foot something to be worked on. Batting is about transferring weight and being still when playing a shot. At the top level one needs to be strong on the back foot but still have the balance and skill to play under the eyes, and be in a position to transfer the weight forward.
Gill’s first move is to step back, then the front foot side-steps to his right and often opens up a little, before he presses down into his stance, crouches a little – for balance, ready to spring out. Even when the ball is relatively full, he doesn’t move forward that much. He can occasionally push his hands at the ball without actually transferring his weight forward, especially against pacers. It’s a potential area of weakness that good bowlers will target on less bouncy surfaces. The key is to draw him forward as he likes to sit back on the back foot. It helps him on pitches with bounce, as we saw in Australia where he unfurled a couple of dreamy knocks.
There seems to be a reluctance in him or rather a decision arrived at after considerable thought that the status quo is better. This is how he put it to this newspaper recently.
“There are one or two important elements. Like your shoulder should be aligned towards the ball, you should be a little side-on while playing, you should be in a good position even if your feet are not moving that well. If you are positioned well in relation to the ball, you will manage… When we play in India, there isn’t that much bounce. Most deliveries stay low. That (reducing the shuffle) was one adjustment I made after talking to our batting coach. I felt I should restrict my initial movement a bit. The ball doesn’t swing much in India either, so the lesser the movement in your body, the better it will be for you.”
Vulnerable to incoming delivery
The important bit in there for our context is: “You should be in a good position even if your feet are not moving that well. If you are positioned well in relation to the ball, you will manage…” And he tries to manage by letting his hands go through or punch the ball. When the ball seams in a touch then it becomes a problem.
Like Rabada got one to sneak in through the bat-and-pad gap in the first ODI and then in the second, Gill’s hands came through well ahead of the body without the lean-in of the upper body, and unsurprisingly the ball flew in the air back to the bowler.
Shubman Gill checks the pitch during a training session ahead of the second one-day international cricket match against South Africa in Ranchi, India, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
It’s a tradeoff that batsmen accept when they change things. The things they do well might not be easy to achieve if they alter the way they move in the crease. Is it worth disrupting the technique built? Would this – let’s say leaning forward or taking an initial movement out – disrupt the entire balance and affect all other areas of the game? Isn’t it better to manage this with the hands?
In theory, good batsmen talk about how they look to press forward as this gives the ability to press back as well with good speed of foot movement. Gill has certainly shortened his back-and-across movement but perhaps the next step would be to restrict the depth of that movement: shorter and quicker as this can still give the springboard to push forward quickly.
As of now, the quick pacers who tail the ball in challenge him because of the slowness of his movement. Resultantly, he can occasionally push his hands at the ball without actually transferring his weight forward. The main focus is on staying still so he doesn’t like to upset that balance by leaning onto his front foot, and he trusts his hands to do the jail-break for him.
From most accounts, from the people who know him well like his mentor at Kolkata Knight Riders, Abhishek Nayar, Gill is a very self-aware batsman who has pieced his technique minutely and is also a problem-solver. “As a player you should know what things you need to work on, and where the opposition is looking to get you out. If you know that, it becomes easier to tackle,” Gill had said. “I don’t make any big changes to my technique without talking to my father… In cricket, there is no technique that can be termed ‘out-proof.’”
Clearly, he does see the weight transfer as an issue as he has tried to offset it by reducing his back-foot initial movements. Also, for a brief while in the past, he would stand with a noticeable lean-in of the front shoulder. So he has tinkered around.
It might not pose any problem if pitches are belters and he sees off the new ball, but it’s an issue that does hang around him. Not a biggie, as they might say, but it’s there alright, and it should be interesting to see how the talented youngster nails this issue in the near future.