Shubman Smashes 40 In Sher-E-Punjab T20 League After Struggling For Runs Against Sri Lanka

Shubman Gill clearly did not fancy carrying his Test baggage into the shortest format.

After a fairly underwhelming Test series against Sri Lanka, Gill returned to T20 cricket and immediately looked like someone had reminded him that the scoreboard is allowed to move quickly.

Playing for Fazilka Falcons in the Sher-E-Punjab T20 League, Gill smashed 40 off just 21 balls against Ludhiana Lions. Seven fours, one six and a strike rate of 190.48, not exactly the numbers of a man still stuck in Test-match mode.

A Much-Needed Change Of Format For Gill

The timing made the innings even more interesting. Gill had not exactly set the Sri Lankan shores on fire in the recently concluded two-match Test series. He made 8 and 16 in the first Test before scoring 50 in the second. His half-century came off 108 balls.

So, naturally, after spending hours trying to convince Sri Lanka’s bowlers that patience is a virtue, Gill returned to Punjab and decided patience was overrated.

His 40 came at almost four times the scoring rate of his Colombo fifty. That is quite the gear change.

There was no long settling-in period either. Gill opened for Fazilka and got busy, finding the boundary regularly before his innings came to an end. He was the side’s highest scorer as Fazilka posted 170/9.

And that is perhaps the most amusing part of Gill’s recent cricketing life. In Tests, he was being asked to bat time, absorb pressure and build an innings. In Punjab, the instructions seemed considerably simpler: see ball, hit ball, repeat.

Of course, one 21-ball cameo does not erase a quiet Test series. But it does serve as a reminder that Gill has plenty of attacking cricket in his locker.