‘All our World Cup games will produce similar nerves’ – Rising India star on Asia Cup encounter against Pakistan
Young India opener Shubman Gill discussed the challenge posed by Pakistan and its players, and how his side was shaping up ahead of the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
Despite being a washout, the group game between India and Pakistan at the Asia Cup brought forth a number of talking points. Among them was the impressive performance of Pakistan’s pace attack and India’s wobble at the top.
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India opener Shubman Gill, however, believed that his team did well in the game.
Talking to the reporters, ahead of his side’s encounter against the same opponents in Super Four, Gill said, “Even when our top-order didn’t work, we scored pretty well as per that wicket.
“At one stage, we were closing in on 300. So I think it was a good sign because we got to a competitive total despite our top-order not clicking.”
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Gill added that the pressure of India-Pakistan encounters in the Asia Cup would be replicated in the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
“I believe that we’ll face the same kind of pressure [as against Pakistan] in all the nine games of the World Cup,” Gill added. “It won’t make a difference if we play against Afghanistan, Netherlands or Pakistan. All games in the World Cup are must win games for us.
“And we’ll face the same kind of pressure and nerves that we faced in that game [Asia Cup encounter against Pakistan] in all the nine games of the World Cup.”
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He went on to discuss the challenge posed by Pakistan’s new ball duo, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah.
“Each bowler has their own speciality. Both bowlers are quite different. Shaheen does swing a lot more, whereas Naseem has the pace and sets good areas if the wicket is helpful.
“Because they are so different, they can pose different challenges in different conditions by playing different roles.”
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When discussing Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, Gill referred to the batter as a “world-class player”.
“We definitely look at Babar [as a special player]. If any player does well, then we look at the reasons for his success. He’s a world class player. We look up to him and admire him.”
He also praised his chemistry with India skipper Rohit Sharma at the top of the wicket, adding that their contrasting playing styles made things tougher for the opposition.
“He’s someone who likes to take on the bowlers aerially, and I’m someone who plays along the ground in powerplay. So, I think that works quite well for us. We are both different [players], how we go about our shots and reading the playing situations. That makes it a bit difficult for the opposition to contain us.”
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He believed that the Men in Blue were well-placed in terms of player positions and clarity of roles.
“There’s a lot of clarity within the side. All players have an understanding of what is expected of them in a particular situation,” Gill said. “After the Asia Cup and World Cup team selections, everyone’s quite clear on their positions and what roles they’d play in that position.”
