.svg)
Key Takeaways
- 1📊 India moved from white-ball to home Tests within days
- 2🏆 Tight scheduling coincided with a 2-0 Test loss to South Africa
- 3💡 Gill stresses mental and physical reset time for red-ball
- 4🔮 Better spacing could sharpen India for future Test series
"India had less than a week's time after white-ball assignments to prepare for their recent home Test series agaist West Indies and South Africa"
Shubman Gill has fired a quiet but pointed reminder to the board: if Team India want to stay dominant in Test cricket, they cannot keep walking straight from white-ball tournaments into five-day battles with barely a breather.
From Dubai and Australia to home Tests in a rush
Gill reflected on a packed 2025 calendar where India played the Asia Cup final in Dubai and then rushed into a home Test against West Indies just four days later. A similar pattern followed when India wrapped up a T20I in Australia and were back in whites against South Africa at home within six days. The result was a 2-0 whitewash against the Proteas, with India looking undercooked rather than outclassed.
From an Indian fan’s lens, it felt like watching a side still in T20 mode asked to suddenly grind out long spells and nurse their bodies through back-to-back Test days. Gill’s concern is simple: switching formats demands both mental recalibration and solid red-ball preparation – centre-wicket practice, longer spells for fast bowlers, and time to reset game plans.
He has urged that future schedules ringfence proper build-up time before Test series, especially when transitioning from frenetic limited-overs cricket. For a player now leading India in both Tests and ODIs, this is as much a plea for player welfare as it is for preserving India’s proud home record.
If the message is heeded, upcoming Test assignments could see India arrive sharper, with bowlers better loaded and batters more in tune with the patience and discipline that define classic five-day dominance.
Related Stories
