Talented Indian opener Shubman Gill is happy that he has got full backing from skipper Rohit Sharma and the team management, giving him a chance to play his ‘natural game’ in the first ODI against Sri Lanka. A day later, Rohit said that he preferred Gill over Ishan Kishan as an opener. Gill smashed a brilliant 70 off 60 balls to guide India to a mammoth 67-run win over Sri Lanka in the first ODI on Tuesday.
“It feels good when your captain backs you. We had a conversation in the practice session that whatever I am doing in ODIs, I will play my natural game. Just have to keep the rhythm going.
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Shubman Gill had a stellar 2022 in the ODI format, scoring 638 runs in 12 innings at an average of 70.88, including his maiden century and four half-centuries. Continuing from where he left off, he began 2023 with another half-century as he and Rohit Sharma stitched an opening partnership of 143 which also set the stage for India’s mammoth 373/7. Shubman, however, missed out on a century as well.
“We mainly batted in Tests. It is good to bat with him (Rohit). The conversation is usually about which bowler to target, what they are trying to do, where they are trying to stop our runs. Accordingly we made our plan. Of course, I was very disappointed to get out for 70. I worked hard to go ahead and achieve a big milestone for the team. I got out in the 20th over, I had almost 30 overs to bat,” said Shubman Gill.
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He said, ‘I don’t think bowling is a matter of concern, we bowled very well. We got them eight wickets on that wicket and there was dew. It was not easy bowling when you are bowling second with so much dew. It is not easy to control the wet ball. Sometimes spinners can be out of the game but it did not happen in this match. Both Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal) bhai and Akshar (Patel) bhai bowled really well. Fielding is also a challenge, sometimes balls go off the field and it is difficult to catch the ball due to the wetness. It’s like playing with butter in your hands. It is not easy to bowl when there is dew.
