Lot of boxes ticked – Shubman Gill happy with India’s ODI series triumph over West Indies

India had a rare off day on the pitch as they slumped to a defeat in a high-scoring encounter in Mohali.

Batting first, India posted 351 on the board, courtesy of KL Rahul’s unbeaten century. However, Shai Hope’s unbeaten 162 propelled West Indies to a grandstand finish as they saved the blushes of a whitewash.

Indian captain, Shubman Gill, bagged the Player of the Series award for his overall tally of 334 runs. Talking at the post-match presentation, Gill opened up on India’s overall performance while explaining the conundrum surrounding Gurnoor Brar and Kuldeep Yadav, after the former started cramping.

Reflecting on India’s series win against West Indies, Gill said, “Lot of boxes ticked. I think there are still some areas that definitely need some fine tuning. I was very happy with the total. I think the game was in control. But being behind four overs with this dew and then in the last, I think they took the game away from us. Had we not been shortened the overs, the game might have went to the last over.”

Explaining if there was a temptation about bringing Kuldeep Yadav into the attack earlier when Gurnoor Brar was suffering from cramps, Gill stated, “No, not really. We didn't know if Gurnoor was gonna come back and bowl with his cramps. So there was a bit uncertainty there. And we knew the match is gonna go till the end. And, he's a wicket-taker and I wanted his couple of overs to be there in the end.”

Highlighting India’s progress in ODIs, Gill said, “Decently pleased I would say, but like I said, I think there are still some areas. Our fielding could be much better. Overall in the series I think we dropped around six or seven catches, which is not a good sign leading up to the World Cup. You want your fielding to be top notch.”

Emphasizing on the areas that will still need to be fine-tuned, Gill stated, “Death bowling as well. I feel, sometimes we are not really clear whether we are attacking or we are defending, especially when we are bowling the death overs. One day such a game, if the opposition is five or six down, you are never really sure what fields to take, whether we are going for the death too early or we are still bowling kind of like middle overs. I think these are some areas which definitely we need to be better at.”

He concluded by saying, “You're always disappointed whenever you get out early. But I think today, I don't think I could have done much that I would have done on that ball.”