India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2023: Shubman Gill Admits They're Not Used To Facing Quality Attack Like Shaheen Afridi And Co.
Sri Lanka's Colombo, September 9: Before his team's Asia Cup Super Four match against arch-rivals Pakistan, Indian batter Shubman Gill said on Saturday that Men in Blue are sometimes having trouble beating Pakistan because they haven't played against a good Pakistani bowling attack.
On Sunday at Colombo, India will play Pakistan in a Super Four Asia Cup match.
In a news conference before the match, Gill talked about India's problems with Pakistan's left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi. He said, "When you play at this level, you've played left-arm pacers before at some point in your career.
Compared to the other teams, we don't play Pakistan that often. They have a good way of playing. It makes a difference when you don't face this kind of bowling attack very often and aren't used to it.
Gill said that the fact that he and his opening partner, the captain Rohit Sharma, are so different makes it hard for bowlers to stop them.
"In the power play, I like to play close to the ground. Rohit fights bowlers in the air. This goes well together for us. "Because we are so different, it's hard for bowlers to keep us in," said Gill.
Gill said that sometimes it's just the quality of the bowling that beats a hitter when he talks about his short slump after the Indian Premier League (IPL).
"Yes, you remember the good times when you're in a slump. Sometimes it's not even about how you do something. It's all about the bowlers, but their job is also to get catches.
There are some good services you can get. When you play well, things work out well for you. "To get those big runs, you just have to trust your game and keep going," he said.
When asked if the players watch Pakistan captain Babar Azam hit, Gill said that they do and called him a "World-Class player."
"Yes, we follow him for sure. When a person does a good job. Everyone looks at him to find out what makes him or her so good at what they do. Babar has the same problem. He is a great player, and we all look up to him," Gill said.
Gill said that Pakistani fast bowlers Shaheen and Naseem Shah bowl differently because Shaheen has more swing while Naseem Shah has more speed and bowls in good spots.
Gill said that everyone on the team knows their jobs and where to bat for the ICC Cricket World Cup, which starts on October 5.
Gill said this about the team's plans for batting: "Our plans will stay the same: to build a strong base and then win. Our top players did not do well in the last game against Pakistan. But we still made about 260 runs, and it looked like we were going to make between 310 and 320 runs at some point on that track. This is good news."
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir (travelling reserve).
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumraj, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (travelling reserve).