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Shubman Gill has showered massive praise on skipper Rohit Sharma’s ‘game-changing’ batting, highlighting its impact on the Indian team’s strength and strategy.
Rohit Sharma (L) and Shubman Gill.
Shubman Gill has hailed Rohit Sharma for his ‘game-changing’ batting revolution, saying the ODI skipper’s aggressive intent has made batters’ lives easier and the Indian men’s team much stronger.
After being a big-innings accumulator for the first half of his ODI opening career, Rohit changed tactics in the 2022-23 season. Here, his batting average came down from 55-70 to around 40-50 but his strike rate shot up to around 115, which was among the best for openers in the two years.
In the 2023 World Cup, he was the second-highest run-scorer with 597 runs at an average of 54.27 and a stunning strike-rate of 125.95. His quick starts in the powerplay set brilliant foundations for India by putting pressure on the opposition bowlers while also taking top-order collapses due to extra swing/seam out of the picture.
“The way Rohit bhai has been batting in the ODIs in the past one year and a half, it’s been really game-changing for us,” Gill said ahead of India’s first ODI of 2025, against England in Nagpur. “Taking the momentum right through from the start and taking the game away form ball one and it makes the job of the non-striker and the batsmen coming in a bit easier and I think it has helped our team a lot.”
Gill and Rohit had a surreal 2023 as opening partners, with the former scoring as many as five centuries in the format. The 25-year-old’s consistency also prompted the BCCI to make him Rohit’s vice-captain in the format.
Not seeing England series as CT practice: Gill
The three ODIs against England are the last before the 2025 Champions Trophy begins on February 19. However, Gill said India are not taking this series as just a practice for the tournament.
“We are playing against a good side and three ODIs and we are not taking this as a practice for the Champions Trophy as it is a very important series for us and we are looking to dominate and win this series like any other series.”
The first ODI will be played on February 6 followed by the second and third in Cuttack and Ahmedabad on February 9 and 12, respectively.
- Location :
Nagpur, India, India
