Reconnecting with a girl?

About 6 months ago I was dating this girl who I have liked for quite some time. We went on a few dates and everything seemed to be going well. However, during the time I was dating her I was heavily focussed on university as it was around the period of exams and my dissertation deadline. So, as we both needed to focus on our studies we decided to end it but agreed to maybe start dating again during the summer. But, due to travelling and myself not really looking to date I never ended up reconnecting with the girl.

Anyway, recently I have started to think about her and was wondering whether to ask her out again. But I don’t know how to reconnect with her. Would it be best to start talking to her again gradually or should I straight up ask her if she would be interested in going out for a date. Usually I don’t find it difficult to talk to girls but I haven’t talked to this girl for 6 months and i don't know how to go about it.