India vice-captain Shubman Gill on Saturday said that the added responsibilities as Rohit Sharma’s deputy hasn’t really affected on how he plays the 50-over format. Gill, who slammed a century in India’s Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh on Thursday, has been in a rich vein of form in the 50-over format, having scored a century as well as two fifties against England in the series preceding the Champions Trophy.
“I don’t think vice captaincy has changed anything. When I’m batting out there, I want to still play as a batsman because I feel that’s when – or that’s what brings the best out of me. So, whenever I’m batting out there, I’m just playing however I would play, irrespective of if I’m the vice-captain or not,” Gill said in the pre-match press conference before the match against Pakistan.
Gill also talked about the hype that is created whenever these two arch-rivals meet, saying that they’ll treat the match as any other contest.
“It’s not for me to say whether India-Pakistan contest is under-hyped or over-hyped. There is a long history of India-Pakistan cricket. It is a very exciting contest but it doesn’t change anything for us.
“It is an important but the most important match will be the final,” Gill said.
Dew played a big role when the T20 World Cup was held in the UAE and Gill said it impacts the game even more in the ODI format. However, the lack of dew here has made batting tougher under lights on what is a challenging surface anyway.
“In the last match, dew was not there. When dew is not there, it is not that easy to bat (under lights) and it is not that easy to rotate strike as well. Whoever does well in middle overs has a better chance of winning. With lack of dew, toss also doesn’t play a big role.
“But, for any team – in any big match, if we don’t get dew then the team that is batting later will have more pressure,” said the stylish opener.
(With agency inputs)
