“Nobody is ready to take it easy”

Star batter Shubman Gill has opened up about the intense competition for the opening spot in India’s T20I line-up. Gill was currently the captain of the Indian team for the five-match series against Zimbabwe. India went on to win the series 4-1.

There were several positives for India in the series. The biggest positive was the performance of the openers. India gave a chance to four opening batters in the series, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Abhishek Sharma.

While Gill and Jaiswal were India’s preferred openers, Abhishek and Gaikwad batted at No. 3 and No. 4 most of the time. Despite moving down the order, they scored runs impressively.

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Shubman Gill speaks on the intense competition for the opening spot

After the match, Gill said that it’s a good thing that India has plenty of options for the opening slot since everyone is performing.

“It’s a good thing that everyone’s performing. It shows that everyone is hungry and nobody is ready to take it easy. For any country or board, that’s always a good thing,” Gill said.

All these batters opened for their respective IPL teams and all four of them finished among the top five run-getters of the series, which is a positive sign. Gill and Jaiswal finished as the top two run-getters with 170 runs and 141 runs respectively.

Jaiswal played just three matches of the series after missing the first two games because of the celebrations after India’s T20 World Cup triumph.

Meanwhile, Abhishek Sharma scored a blistering 46-ball hundred in just his second T20I after getting dismissed for a duck in his debut game. The left-hander scored 124 runs at an average of 31 and a strike rate of 174.64 on slow pitches.

Ruturaj Gaikwad showed his skills as a complete batter by scoring 133 runs in the series at an average of 66.50 and a strike rate of 158.33.

“Everyone made a mark” – Shubman Gill

Not only the openers, but Gill also lauded the all-rounders and the spinners for their excellent performances throughout the series. Off-spinner Washington Sundar finished with 8 wickets from five matches and was adjudged Player of the Series. Legspinner Ravi Bishnoi also picked up 6 wickets at an economy rate of just 5.57.

“Anyone who got the opportunity grabbed it with both hands. The openers to bowlers to allrounders to spinners, everyone made a mark and I think the selectors have now seen everything and it’s up to them to name the squad for the next series,” Gill said.

India won the series 4-1 after coming back strongly after the first game. The Men in Blue lost the first game but showed tremendous character in the next four games to beat the home side comprehensively.

India will now move to Sri Lanka for a T20I and an ODI series. This will be India’s first series after the retirement of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja. The selectors are likely to appoint a new captain and Hardik Pandya is currently the frontrunner for the role.