Shubman Gill recalls bitter 2023 World Cup memory, describes final pressure: ‘Will try and achieve what we couldn’t do…’

Shubman, who has been on the rise in international cricket, talked about final pressure and defeat in the 2023 WC final.

Team India vice-captain Shubman Gill has recalled the bitter memories of the 2023 ODI World Cup summit clash while talking about the pressure of playing a final ahead of the all-important clash against New Zealand. The Men in Blue are on a dominant run in the Champions Trophy and remained unbeaten in their journey to the final, which was also the case during the 2023 ODI World Cup, but they suffered a defeat against Australia in the final frontier. The pressure is once again on India, who have been targetted by several former cricketers for playing all their matches at the same venue.

Shubman Gill will be playing his second ICC white-ball final on Sunday, (AFP)

Shubman, who has been on the rise in international cricket, talked about final pressure and defeat in the 2023 WC final. He said that Australia handled the pressure well on the big occasion, but this time, they would be hoping not to repeat the same mistakes against New Zealand.

“It’s my second ICC event for team India and hence I’m definitely excited. We’ll try and achieve what we couldn’t do the last time. There is always big-match pressure. But if you look at the last game, Australia didn't have a lot of experienced bowlers. The match was big. In such matches, whoever handles pressure and doesn't think a lot that they're playing final, those teams win," Shubman said in the press conference on the eve of the Champions Trophy final.

Meanwhile, Shubman talked about the teams from past who handled the pressure in knockout games and went onto win multiple ICC titles.

"Look at the teams of the past like West Indies and Australia. They used to play well in knockout games as they would keep the occasion away from the game,” said Gill in the pre-match press conference," he added.

India aim for back-to-back ICC titles

The Indian team broke the final jinx in the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will surely boost their confidence. The players won't feel any mental pressure to end the ICC title drought as the captain and head coach are also not shy away from taking bold decisions like playing four spin bowling options and one front-line pacer with a fast-bowling all-rounder.

Rohit Sharma started the tournament with three spinners and brought in Varun Chakaravarthy with Mohammed Shami and all-rounder Hardik Pandya as the only pace options. It has worked well — Chakravarthy took seven wickets in two games; Indian spinners have picked 14 out of 20 wickets against New Zealand and Australia enroute to the final.