Shubman Gill stood out among his teammates for India on Friday. The young opener smashed an amazing century, his first in a run-chase, during India’s Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match against Bangladesh in Colombo.
In an inning with eight fours and five sixes, Gill scored 121 runs off 133 deliveries. India’s opener’s innings was the main factor in how far Men in Blue were able to advance in the match before falling just seven runs short of the 266-run target.
Despite Axar Patel’s 34-ball 42, Gill acknowledges a small error of judgment on his side that ultimately proved pivotal as India still needed 56 from 38 with three wickets left when he left.
“There is so much adrenaline when you are batting, sometimes you miscalculate, and I think that was a miscalculation on my side,” Gill said about being dismissed at the post-match press conference.
“But when you go out and then you see there was a lot of time left and if I would have batted a bit normally or not that aggressively then I think we should have been able to get over the line. But these are the learnings. Fortunately, this game wasn’t the final for us and these are the kind of learnings as a batsman I like to take and like to improve on,” he added.
Shubman Gill reveals ODI World Cup 2023 plans
Is it a problem that Indian hitters continue to struggle against spinners? Shubman Gill disagrees, but said that they are trying to get better at it because they know the world cup would also mean slower pitches.
“We had a camp in Bangalore before coming here and practised on similar surfaces. The World Cup is such a long tournament, and as we go deep into the tournament, the wickets will get slower. It is not easy for batsmen coming in to rotate strike and minimise dot balls. That’s what as a batting unit and bowling group we are looking to overcome,” Gill noted.