ICC Champions Trophy: In-form Gill revels in the new deputy’s role

Shubman Gill could not have asked for a better timing of his return to form than this. Ever since his appointment as the vice-captain of the ODI team with the England series, he has been simply unstoppable – hitting two centuries and as many fifties in the four innings after the new responsibility.

The unbeaten 101 against Bangladesh the other day, which came under somewhat challenging conditions to bat on under the lights, underlined the maturity as a key batter and potential leader for the future. ‘’It’s one of my most satisfying centuries,’’ Gill admitted when asked how he rated it among the eight career tons in this format, though he feels there is no corelation between his new role and batting form. ‘’There has been no change in my batting approach with the responsibility,’’ he added.

Now 25 and having already spent almost seven years in international cricket, Gill looks a natural waiting to slip into the leader’s role in future. On the eve of the Bangladesh match, captain Rohit Sharma dropped enough hint about the future when he said there are enough reasons as to why Gill has been ‘’elevated to this role’’ and also future. The captain has now assigned him specific roles: that of talking to the bowlers in between overs as well as keeping an eye on players who were not making it to the playing XI.

Why was Rishabh Pant not visible during the team’s practice session on Saturday? ‘’He is down with viral,’’ replied Gill, which meant it will be KL Rahul again behind the stumps in the pressure game. ''It's important to keep players who are not playing in a good mindset and always keep them ready for whenever they get the chance. Those are the kind of conversations that I have with them whenever I get the chance or if I see if someone is feeling a little low or lacking in something,'' he said.

 ‘’Whenever I am on the field, whenever we are out there, I try and talk to the bowlers. It’s not easy for them in this heat to think right. Rohit bhai has given me the responsibility to talk to the bowlers whenever I am standing in mid-on and mid-off. I want to make sure the bowling plans are followed and I try to keep talking to the bowlers,’’ said the leader in the making.

Not fazed by Rohit

Even in his earlier days in international cricket, Gill had shown a mature head on his young shoulders. Despite walking out to open with Rohit, one of the most destructive hitters in the game in this format, the new vice-captain says he does not influenced: ‘’He is someone who prefers to take the aerial route while I look for gaps and lift occasionally during powerplay. In the Bangladesh game, there was no dew and hence batting was not very easy. Our idea in the middle was to takes less risks and keep rotating the strike as the target was not much,’’ Gill explained.

On his take about the Pakistan game, Gill said: ‘’It's a big match, but the biggest match is the final that the team plays. We have been playing good cricket. By no means, we are going to take them as a lesser side. It’s important for us to stay switched on and bring our A-game tomorrow.’’