"My heartbeat playing first ball and the last was same...": Shubman Gill admits being under pressure in second Test against England

Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], February 5 (ANI): India batter Shubman Gill admitted that he was under pressure and nervous coming into the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam.
Gill struck 34 in the first innings and an important 104 in the second innings to help set a target of 398 for England.
Talking about whether he had felt under pressure batting at No. 3 for India, the 24-year-old revealed he had a chat with head coach Rahul Dravid about the same thing and added that he had never experienced a feeling like that before.
"I'll sum it up in one line. My heartbeat playing the first ball and the last ball was the same throughout the innings," Gill said when asked by Kevin Pietersen on Sports 18, according to ESPNcricinfo.
"That's how nervous I was feeling even after scoring my hundred. That was what I was talking to Rahul [Dravid] sir in the morning when England were batting. It was quite weird for me. I have never experienced like this. Obviously, not being able to score runs the previous few matches," Gill said, elaborating on why he had felt under pressure.
Not only was it a timely century for Gill, but considering the circumstances of the game, it helped India take the lead.
The 24-year-old batter accepted that he was frustrated and disappointed by not being capable of transforming his aggressive starts.
"It wasn't the outside noise but the expectations that I have for myself... I was disappointed how I got out in the first innings here [in Visakhapatnam] and in the first innings in Hyderabad. So all of those expectations, I was disappointed, maybe that's the reason," said the No.3 batter.
Gill could not take the field during day four of the second Test due to a finger injury, but the batter said he would be fine in a few days.
Heading into the second Test against visitors, as a No.3 batter, Gill had played nine innings, after requesting the team management to bat in that position instead of opening.
"People kept asking me why I went from opening to No. 3. I told them that I have batted at No. 3 in first-class and scored three double-hundreds at No. 3 and No. 4. So it wasn't something that I have never done in my life. But batting at No. 3 is obviously different in internationals. And I was thankful that I got the experiences...and the opportunities and the mistakes that I made... they all led up to this innings [the century'. Hope to learn from these experiences," Gill said.
The batter claimed that he had an understanding of playing big knocks in domestic cricket in the No.3 position.
"I don't read the newspapers but I have seen it with other players. I don't go on social media to see what people are saying. Because you know, if you're not doing well, you don't expect people to tell you you're not doing well. You know yourself you're not doing well. More than anyone else, it was my own personal disappointment that I wasn't performing the way I wanted to perform. My dad said I missed out on a big one, I did kinda agree with him (laughs). I didn't tell (him) about the heartbeat," said the India batter. (ANI)