It was kind of a T20 game – Shubman Gill on India’s win against Afghanistan
India started the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan with a clinical win as their captain Shubman Gill led the charge in Dharamsala. Gill stayed unbeaten with 84 runs from just 66 balls, hitting 11 fours and two sixes. Gill secured the Player of the Match award for his sensational batting performance.
Talking at the post-match presentation, Gill opened up on the dynamics of the game. He also shed some light on the game's conditions while heaping praise on the debutant duo of Harsh Dubey and Gurnoor Brar. He eventually concluded with a word about the team meeting after the first innings.
Shedding light on the game, Gill said, “I mean, it was kind of a T20 game, I think the way we started and then they pulled the game away from us. Gurbaz batted brilliantly, the way he got his century was brilliant. But I think the way we pulled back in the middle overs and the death overs was brilliant. Honestly, I think it was a brilliant wicket to bat on. It was, as the match went on, even when we were bowling, there was a little bit of grip for the spinners. When they were bowling, the ball was coming on pretty nicely.”
Reflecting on his slip-catching, Gill added, “No, I definitely caught the ball, practicing a lot, taking a lot of slip catches and even, you know, before the match, I was talking to a friend, he was that I haven’t really taken like a really brilliant catch in my international career so far, one-handed and very happy to get that catch.”
Heaping laurels on the debutants who plundered six wickets between them, he added, “Very impressive, upfront, how Gurnoor bowled, brilliant pace and the way he was swinging the ball, the kind of length he bowled consistently and even Harsh as well, after I think in the first over, he went for 16-17 runs and the way he pulled the game back, trusted himself and kept tossing the ball up. It was very impressive.”
He eventually concluded by revealing what was discussed in the team meetings, adding, “I think the middle overs in one-day games is very crucial, if you can keep, as a bowling group, if we can keep building pressure in the middle overs and keep creating opportunities and same when we are batting, if we can keep rotating the strike, keep batting at a healthy run rate, 6-6.5, without losing too many wickets, then you can really set up the game in the death. So these are the key points that we discuss in team meetings, how can we keep creating opportunities in the middle overs as a bowling group and when we are batting, how can we, keep really pumping on the runs.”
