INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Although it came in a losing cause, the opener's first hundred in an ODI run chase, that too on a tricky pitch, bodes well for India heading
into the World Cup...Shubman Gill hit eight fours and five sixes in his pivotal 121 (133 balls) in India's narrow six-run defeat to
Bangladesh in the Asia Cup Super-4 clash at Colombo's R Premadasa Stadium on Friday
While he rarely scores ugly runs and boundaries, what will delight fans and observers is what he did in between those boundaries.On a pitch
which offered generous break to spinners who were willing to bowl slower, which the Bangladeshis did - and India's spinners didn't - Gill's
control percentage was a high 87
He ran 43 singles, five twos and two threes, which meant strike rotation, such an issue for all other Indian batters, came easier to
him.Yes, he played 70 dots, but on a slow pitch, that was bound to happen
Gill alluded to that after the game
"Our chat as a batting group is to reduce dot balls and rotate strike
The track was slow and was taking turn, so taking singles is not easy, especially for new batters
The talk was about playing it late and close to the body."Indian spin legend Erapalli Prasanna often says that for a spinner, line is
optional but length is mandatory
The Bangladesh spinners were exceptional with their control of length on Friday.To disturb that and to counter the sluggish surface, where
playing strokes in front of the wicket was difficult, Gill's tactics were to stay back deep in the crease and convert the length balls into
short ones and play square off the wicket, especially to the left-arm-spin of Shakib Al Hasan and Nasum Ahmed.Against the two offies, Mahedi
Hasan and Mehidy Miraj, Gill preferred the areas between mid-on and mid-wicket As the spinners tried to compensate and neutralise that foot
movement, they started pitching it up closer to Gill and that's when he seized his chance and started employing the lofted shot to hit
sixes.Gill idolizes Virat Kohli and wants to emulate the match-winning feats of his hero, who has scored 26 of his 47 ODI tons in winning
Friday's hundred was Gill's fifth in ODIs and the fourth this year, but his first in pursuit of a target
He couldn't quite take the team home, but the experience of batting that long, in energy-sapping conditions and playing on a surface that
challenged all areas of your craft, would have helped Gill to take back plenty of lessons along with a sweat soaked jersey and
disappointment in his heart
His 'six and out' to Mahedi when 57 runs were needed off 39 balls and a proficient Axar Patel batting at the other end, may be labelled as
impetuousness by harsh critics
For Gill, it was just "miscalculation"."There's so much adrenaline when you bat, sometimes you miscalculate," Gill analysed
"When I got out, you saw there was a lot of time left
If I had batted a bit normally or not that aggressively, we should have been able to get over the line
Fortunately, this was not the final
These are the kind of learnings that as a batsman you want to take and move forward," he added.Praising his opening partner, India skipper
Rohit Sharma said, "He backs his game and knows exactly how he wants to play as he is clear on what he wants to do for the team
Look at his form over the last year (1000-plus runs in 2023)." That clarity of gameplan and maturity is what could help India in the World
