Leap of faith required from India for Shubman Gill at T20 World Cup
Gill's selection at the cost of Sanju Samson has been questioned as the Test and ODI skipper has scored only 291 runs in 15 innings at a strike-rate of 137.3.
New Delhi: His long association with Shubman Gill makes Abhishek Sharma convinced that the India vice-captain would fire on all cylinders at the T20 World Cup.
Sharma has played alongside Gill since 12 years of age and shares a deep bond with him on and off the field as they have been preferred as openers in the T20 format in the ongoing South Africa series.
But Gill's selection at the cost of Sanju Samson has been questioned as the Test and ODI skipper has scored only 291 runs in 15 innings at a strike-rate of 137.3.
In India’s win in the third T20I for a 2-1 series lead in Dharamshala, Gill hardly looked to be in smooth touch during a run-a-ball 28 in chase of a meagre 118.
Sharma hit 35 off 18 balls, following which he was asked to comment on Gill and skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s dry spell with the bat.
"I'll tell you one thing straight away, that trust me, these two guys are going to win matches in World Cup (in February-March) and in this series as well," Sharma said.
"Because I've been playing with them since so long, especially with Shubman, so I know which match he can win, which conditions, irrespective of the team, whoever it is.
"So I have a lot of faith in him from the beginning, and I hope everyone will see him very soon and everyone will have faith in him."
Seaming conditions
Top-ranked T20I batter Sharma lifted India to 60 runs in the powerplay, yet India needed more than 10 overs to chase down their target as Gill and Yadav struggled to score freely.
"There was a bit of help for the fast bowlers, and as I was batting, I knew that if I gave a good start here, the match could get over in the Powerplay, and that's what happened,” left-handed Sharma said.
"...that was the plan for the rest of the batters, that they would just knock out or finish the match, so it was a very simple plan after that.
"Conditions of course, I mean, as a batter you have to keep those things in mind that the ball is swinging a bit or it's seaming a bit, so I tried to play a few shots which is suitable for those wickets and pitches, so that's the plan always."