Shubman Gill recounts conversation with Rohit Sharma during practice: “He told me that I will be playing”

Team India opener Shubman Gill has revealed that skipper Rohit Sharma assured him during their practice sessions that he would be opening the batting in the ODIs against Sri Lanka. The youngster admitted that getting such solid backing from the captain makes a difference.

With Shikhar Dhawan being dropped for the ODIs against Sri Lanka, India had to pick between Gill and Ishan Kishan for Rohit’s opening partner. However, Rohit made it clear during the pre-series press conference that Gill would get the nod ahead of Kishan for his consistent performances.

There was some backlash over the decision to leave out Kishan from the playing XI as he had smashed a double hundred in India’s previous ODI in Bangladesh. However, Gill repaid the team management's faith, scoring a half-century in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Guwahati.

At a post-match press conference, Gill was asked how big a difference the public backing by the skipper has made to his confidence. He asserted:

“Feels good when your captain backs you. This was the conversation we had during practice as well. He (Rohit) told me that I will be playing and Rahul (Dravid) bhai told me to play my natural game - whatever I have been doing in the one-dayers, just look to continue doing that.”

On his partnership with Rohit, the 23-year-old stated that they have opened together a few times in Tests, so it wasn’t something new to him. The youngster elaborated:

“I have batted with Rohit bhai before. We batted in Australia and in India as well, mainly in the Tests. It’s nice to bat with him. The conversation (between us) is generally about which bowlers to target and what they are trying to do. Accordingly, we make our plans.”

Rohit and Gill added 143 for the opening wicket in Guwahati. While the latter scored 70 off 60, the Indian captain was dismissed for 83 off 67.

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“Was disappointed when I got out on 70” - Shubman Gill

Although he made a significant contribution to India’s win in the first ODI, some critics feel that Gill missed out on a hundred, given the placid nature of the Guwahati surface. Agreeing that he should have carried on after getting his eye in, the young opener said:

“Definitely, I was disappointed when I got out on 70. I did all the hard work and it was time to get going and get a big one for the team. After seeing off the new ball, I got out in the 20th over, so I had almost 30 overs to bat.”

While Gill and Rohit missed out on a hundred, Virat Kohli (113 off 87) notched up his 45th ODI ton to lift India to 373/7. Despite Dasun Shanaka’s century (108* off 88), Sri Lanka fell short of the target by 67 runs.