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'Message came from dressing room...': Shubman Gill on Rohit, Gambhir's role in 'most satisfying century' in India's win
Shubman Gill spoke about his unbeaten century which played a key role in India's win against Bangladesh on Thursday.
How big an occasion or difficult of a situation does it have to be for you to term your slowest ODI century as the "most satisfying one"? India vice-captain Shubman Gill hit a century off 125 balls against Bangladesh in a Champions Trophy Group A match in Dubai. There are more than one reason behind Gill's assertion. Firstly, it was his first century in an ICC event. Secondly, he stayed unbeaten to see India home. Thirdly and perhaps the most important point, it was not an easy chase by any means. The scoreboard may say that India won by six wickets with 21 balls to spare, but things were quite different in the middle, especially when Bangladesh got three wickets to reduce India to 144/4 in their 229-run chase on a pitch that made life difficult for the batters to play shots.
"Definitely one of the most satisfying innings that I have played and my first century in ICC events. Very satisfying and very happy with the way I performed," Gill, the Player of the Match, said in the post-match presentation.
The opener remained unbeaten on 101 off 129 balls with nine fours and two sixes to his name. It was Gill's 8th ODI century. He became the fastest Indian to reach the mark, bettering Shikhar Dhawan, Virat and Sachin Tendulkar. But it was one of his least fluent innings. The reason? The disciplined Bangladesh bowling and the sluggish nature of the Dubai pitch. The conditions were so difficult that Gill played three dot balls even after reaching his century.
Gill's innings was a throwback to the 90s and the early 2000s. He started off in blazing fashion, taking full use of the fielding restrictions but as soon as the field spread and things became difficult, he decided to play the waiting game. Gill added 69 runs in 9.5 overs before Rohit got out to pacer Taskin Ahmed while attempting a mighty heave, leaving India at 69 for 1.
"When me and Rohit bhai went out there, we thought cutting the ball wasn't easy because the balls which were outside the off-stump weren't coming onto the bat that nicely. So I thought of using my feet to even the fast bowlers and tried to go over the circle," he said.
The partnership was significant from a game point of view, as the pitch slowed down considerably in the middle overs, making batting a bit tougher.
Virat Kohli looked a bit over-watchful and circumspect before opening his account after facing 10 balls.
Though he grew comfortable, an uppish cut of leg-spinner Rishad Hossain ended his stay for 22.
"When the spinners came on, me and Virat bhai were talking in the middle that it's not easy to score singles off the front foot, so we'll try to score singles off the back foot. And it's not easy to hit down the ground, so we just keep rotating the strike," Gill added.
The quick wickets of Axar Patel, who was once again promoted to No. 5, and Shreyas Iyer had India at a slightly worrying 144 for four.
Rahul and Gill steer India to win
But KL Rahul, who was dropped on nine by Jaker Ali off Taskin, ensured that there were no further hiccups and played a resolute unbeaten innings of 41 off 47 balls.
Gill and Rahul added 87 runs for the unbroken fifth-wicket alliance to carry their side home.
When the going was tough, Gill said that there was a message from the dressing room to stay there till the end and make sure India reached the target with no further hiccups. "At one point, there was a bit of pressure on us. The message was sent from outside that I have to try to bat till the end and that's what I tried to do."
