IND vs SL 2023: Feels good when the captain backs you – Shubman Gill

Indian captain Rohit Sharma had backed Shubman Gill to play ahead of Ishan Kishan in the first ODI against Sri Lanka at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on Tuesday. Kishan had scored a double century in the third ODI against Bangladesh and many cricket boffins questioned Rohit and the management’s decision to keep the left-hander on the sidelines.

However, Gill was able to vindicate the think tank’s decision to back him as he scored a fine knock of 70 runs off 60 balls with the help of 11 fours. Thus, the youngster added a brilliant opening alliance of 143 runs with skipper Rohit Sharma and gave a perfect platform to his team.

Gill timed the ball to perfection and found the gaps at regular intervals to score his runs at a brisk pace. The youngster has got off to a great start in his ODI career as he is averaging almost 60.

“It feels good when the team captain backs you,” Gill said in the post-match presser. “This was the conversation in the practice as well, that I will be playing. Rahul bhai (Dravid) also told me to just play my natural game… whatever I have been doing in the one-dayers, continue doing that.”

Gill also shared what it is like to bat with Indian captain Rohit Sharma and also discussed their strategy against the opponents.

“I have batted with Rohit bhai before in Australia, mainly in the Tests. It is nice to bat with him. The conversation generally when we were in the middle is, which bowler to target? What are they trying to do? Where are they trying to block our runs? And accordingly we make our plans.”

The youngster added the batters want to keep the dot balls percentage low in their innings and score their runs at a brisk pace.

“We are continuously checking areas and aspects where we can improve on. We are working on that. No batsman likes to play dot balls. But sometimes you have to see the game situation… if the game situation doesn’t demand you to play too many high-scoring shots (like when) two wickets have gone down, as a batsman you (need to) have that confidence that I’m playing the dot balls but can cover up the runs later. But yeah that is one area we are continuously trying to improve.”

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka was reduced o 206-8 but the ninth wicket partnership added another 100 runs with Dasun Shanaka completing his hundred. Gill revealed that it was not easy to bowl in the dew conditions.

“It is difficult, it is not easy to control a wet ball. Sometimes, the spinners can go out of the game but that didn’t happen in this match. Yuzi bowled well, Axar bhai also bowled well. It is a challenge to field as well, sometimes the ball skids off the wicket. And it is hard to catch the ball, as the ball is wet. It is like, you have butter on your hands. So it not easy to bowl when there is dew.”

The second ODI will be played on Thursday at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.