“We have all the moves to dance to your chin-music” – Shubman Gill opens up on banter with Pat Cummins

Shubman Gill takes a lot of pride in not throwing his wicket to Pat Cummins’s bouncers and also living by his words of countering ‘chin music’ with all the required dance moves.

Shubman Gill was one of India’s heroes from the epic Australian tour earlier this season. In his first series as a Test cricketer, the 21-year-old was up against his Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) teammate and the No.1 Test bowler, Pat Cummins.

In an interview with KKR’s social media team, Shubman Gill opened up on his banter with “nice guy” Pat Cummins and his mantra to not get affected by all the "chin-music" talks.

“I have played him a lot in the KKR nets,” said Shubman Gill, who was the most successful India opener on the Australia tour, piling 259 runs at 51.8.

“He got me out thrice. We had our banters in the middle, but he’s such a nice guy, so nothing was harsh. He was like, we will show them with bouncers, but I didn’t get out to a single bouncer. Like I had said before if they play the chin-music, we have all the moves to dance to that music.”

Ahead of the Test series in December, Shubman Gill famously answered a query about sledging, where he said:

“For me, I’m neither the kind to always keep quiet, nor the type to keep going at the opposition. But if the plan is to make us dance to their chin music, be rest assured we’ve got plenty of great moves in store.”

Torn by injuries and the unavailability of several star cricketers, India went on to beat a strong Australian side 2-1 to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and pile up crucial points for the World Test Championship (WTC). The wins in Australia and the series victory against England paved India’s path to the WTC final.

Felt terrible to contribute to the fall of Cheteshwar Pujara’s wicket: Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill lamented how he got out in his debut Test innings, which was the second Test of the series, and how it contributed to the fall of Cheteshwar Pujara’s wicket. Replying to Australia’s 195, both batsmen did the hard work early on day two and piled up 61 runs for the second wicket.

In what could have been the last ball of Pat Cummins’s spell, Shubman Gill threw away his wicket, trying to drive the ball. Cummins would go on to get an extended spell, and he made it count with Pujara’s wicket.

“He (Pat Cummins) bowled a long spell in the MCG Test. It was the last ball of his long spell, I went for that drive and edged it. Because of my wicket, they gave him another over and he dismissed Puji-bhai (Cheteshwar Pujara) as well. I was on 45, and I could have let that ball go. I felt worse because I was the reason he got that extra over, and he made that count too with Pujara’s wicket,” Shubman Gill added.

Despite Australia's series defeat, Pat Cummins was named the player of the series for his 21 wickets in four Tests.

With less than a month to go for the 14th edition of the IPL, Shubman Gill and Pat Cummins will once again find themselves in the same dressing room, donning the purple and gold of KKR.