IT’S IMPORTANT TO GET INTO THE HABIT OF WINNING AND GET YOUR MENTALITY RIGHT BEFORE THE WORLD CUP: SHUBHMAN GILL

Shubhman Gill.

Khel Today Bureau 

New Delhi: “It’s important to have the habit of winning and to get into form and get your mentality set at the right time. We know there are nine matches for every team, and we will try to keep the momentum we have and bring it to the World Cup because there will be pressure if we lose one or two games. If we win here, we will take a lot of confidence into the World Cup.” These are the views of Indian opener Shubhman Gill.

Speaking exclusively to Star Sports on Follow the Blues, Shubhman Gill spoke on his approach to batting in the last game against Bangladesh. He said, “On a slow wicket, you get a lot of dot balls, so when batting, we were thinking of how to reduce the number of dot balls. And the more we rotate the strike, the easier it gets. The wicket was slow, and the ball was turning a lot, so taking singles wasn’t easy on this wicket, especially for a batsman who has just come in. So the talk was to just allow the ball to come to us, and generally on a slow wicket, we score more runs square of the wicket, not many runs are scored in front. So we were playing the ball late and square of the wicket.”

Gill also said, “When I was batting, there’s so much adrenaline at first, you know, when I got out, it was a miscalculation on my side, but then you realize there was actually a lot of time left, and if I batted normally and not aggressively, we should have been able to get over the line, but these are the learnings, and fortunately, this wasn’t the final game for us. So I think these are the learnings as a batsman I’d like to take and improve on.”

Gill further spoke on the learnings from the game and how important it is to keep the momentum as they head into the World Cup. He said, “The reason we gave rest to our bowlers is because we played continuously for three days, against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and the bowlers needed a bit of rest so that they can come in fresh for the finals. I don’t think there has been a momentum break for us. I think when bowling against their lower order, we gave away extra runs, about 10-15 runs more than what we would like. Other than that, I think we played good cricket. And as I said in wickets like these, I was set and I feel I should have finished the game, and all these learnings we can use in games for the World Cup and the finals of the Asia Cup. It’s important to have the habit of winning and to get into form and get your mentality set at the right time. We know there are nine matches for every team, and we will try to keep the momentum we have and bring it to the World Cup because there will be pressure if we lose one or two games. If we win here, we will take a lot of confidence into the World Cup.”

Gill also spoke on the kinds of wickets they were playing on. He said, “I think the kind of wickets we are playing on is absolutely perfect. It’s a great test for the batsman and the bowlers because I think these are the kind of wickets that we would generally play on in India. And to play in these conditions against good teams, and the pressure will be definitely something that will help us in the World Cup.”

Gill also spoke on the form of Sri Lanka as they face them in the finals of the Asia Cup. He said, “Yeah, I think they have great momentum with them, the way they won the last match was great to see, and I think we will have to pull up our socks and bet at our 100% to beat them.”

Speaking exclusively to Star Sports on Follow the Blues, former Australia cricketer Matthew Hayden spoke on the game between India and Bangladesh. He said, “Yeah, I think the bowling performance was compromised by the fact that key players were missing. But I also think it was a typical dead rubber game in a tournament where you have already qualified. There has to be that extra motivation there, and when it is not there, that extra stimulus, even the crowd today, that sense of occasion, coming off a fantastic tournament thus far, it’s just hard to replicate that intensity, and I felt that India’s performance with the ball lacked that intensity.”

Hayden further said, “Subhman’s batting today in circumstances where India were in a spot of bother in that first powerplay, similar to Bangladesh as well. And the fact that on 43 occasions, 265 plus runs chased down has only been achieved in five matches. You know that’s little over 10% of the time where you have an opportunity to win these games. So having a mainstay with Shubhman Gill at the crease, that was the key.”

Hayden also said, “Look, India’s bowling in particular, and we have seen it in the back 20 overs of the game with 4 wickets remaining, you know they just seemed to bleed runs. So Jasprit Bumrah’s comeback with the ball is such a key part of the World Cup campaign for Team India as they head into that. And with the bat, I think it’s a very obvious choice, Shubhman Gill’s class, his timing, his form, it’s very important at the top of the order with a healthy strike rate, I think that partnership with the Hitman is very key. So both these characters with bat and ball are needed at the World Cup.”

Catch all the action from the final of the Asia Cup 2023 – India vs Sri Lanka, September 17th, 2023, 3.00 pm (IST) onwards, LIVE & Exclusive on the Star Sports.