Presence of Rohit, Virat makes your life a lot more easier: Gill

Returning India skipper Shubman Gill said the presence of senior pros Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli continues to be a massive asset for the team as it prepares for the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand.

Addressing the media ahead of the series opener on Saturday, Gill highlighted the value of having two of the modern era’s greatest batters in the dressing room, particularly when the pressure is on.

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“One is one of the greatest openers of all time in ODIs and Virat bhai is one of the greatest ODI batters ever, so definitely when you have these two people in your team, it makes your life a lot more easier,” he said.

“If you are in a tough situation, they (Rohit and Kohli) always have been in those kind of situation and conditions many times in their life, so you can always go to them and see how they are thinking or what they would do and that piece of information is very valuable for any captain,” Gill said.

Rohit and Kohli have been in formidable form since choosing to focus solely on the ODI format last year. The Indian captain has averaged 69.6 in the format during this period, while Kohli has scored at an average of 94 runs per innings following their respective retirements from Test cricket.

Gill also spoke about missing out on selection for India’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad, saying he fully respected the decision taken by the selectors. India opted for a more aggressive top order, with Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan filling the top-three slots.

“As a player, you have a belief that if you play the World Cup, you will win for your team, you will win for your country. But having said that, I respected the selector’s decision, whichever decision he took, wishing the T20 team all the very best and I really, really hope that they win the (T20) World Cup for us,” Gill said.

India head into the New Zealand series with a largely settled squad but have had to contend with a few recent challenges, including Gill’s own spell on the sidelines due to injury. The 26-year-old took charge of the ODI side against Australia in October but suffered a neck injury during the first Test against South Africa a month later, which ruled him out of the subsequent ODI series against the Proteas.

Gill admitted that the period away from competitive action was a difficult one, especially after just stepping into the captaincy role.

“Obviously, never easy, especially you know, whenever you get injured, watching your team play and you feel like you are missing out on all those games, especially when you have just been named the captain.

“There are so many things that you want to do and when you set out, it’s definitely very frustrating, but at the same time, you just have to focus on what are the things that you need to do in that moment and kind of build on that,” he said.

With ODI cricket now played sparingly, Gill stressed that every series must be used wisely, particularly with the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup scheduled for next year.

“In any series that we play, I think there is an aim or a goal behind it, keeping the [ODI] World Cup in mind, so in all the series that we play, it’s very important to see the players, where the players can help us, in which condition they can help us. We get very few ODIs now, so whatever series we get, we try, our best combination, which combination can help us in which condition,” Gill said.

The New Zealand series also holds personal significance for Gill. He was part of India’s victorious ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign in 2018, and made his ODI debut against New Zealand in Hamilton the following year.

“My debut was against them and even in the Under-19s, we went to play there, so New Zealand has been always a very memorable side for me and whenever we play against New Zealand, it is something that I always cherish and I am always excited to play against them,” he said.