India’s vice-captain, Shubman Gill, stresses the importance of domestic cricket and healthy competition among teammates for Champions Trophy preparation. His love for batting shows in net sessions, and unlike many peers, he values domestic cricket and doesn’t need an official mandate to play.
Following a disappointing tour of Australia, Gill returned to domestic cricket last month, representing Punjab against Karnataka. His century in that match likely served as a confidence booster ahead of the Champions Trophy.
Although being named India’s vice-captain in ODIs is a notable achievement, Shubman Gill understands that his place in the team depends on consistently scoring runs. Missing out on the Melbourne Test was unexpected, but India’s batting transition has been unpredictable, and some players are bound to face setbacks.
Meanwhile, Abhishek Sharma has impressed with explosive performances in T20Is against England, while Yashasvi Jaiswal has been in excellent form in Test cricket. If Gill wants to secure his spot across all formats—a goal he clearly has—he cannot afford to slow down.
“Abhishek is a childhood of friend of mine. Jaiswal is also a friend, I don’t think there is any toxic competition between us. Obviously, if you are playing for the country, you want to perform in every match, and not think that ‘I wish this guy doesn’t perform’. Whosoever performs, you congratulate them,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Wearing the vice-captain’s hat, he spoke of not reading too much into the failures in Australia. “Definitely, we did not play as per our expectations in the Australia series, but still we played some good cricket. We were unfortunate not to have Bumrah on the last day.”
“We would have won the series, and this talk wouldn’t have happened. One match and one day doesn’t define us, we won there twice before and earlier won a World Cup and then reached the final of a World Cup, so we should keep all those things in mind,” he said.
“The mood is good (in the dressing room). Everyone is motivated, we won the last ICC tournament and all the players, support staff, seniors are motivated. It’s one more opportunity to play in an ICC tournament, we are all very motivated,” he added.
Team Gears Up with Intense Training Session
India’s training session on Tuesday saw a packed turnout, with new squad member Varun Chakravarthy joining in. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli batted in pairs, while Rishabh Pant worked on his power-hitting. Both Pant and KL Rahul alternated as wicketkeepers.
Mohammed Shami had an extended bowling session in the nets, and Hardik Pandya took part in a light bowling workout. Despite having several spin options, Gill suggested that the team might opt for just one specialist spinner and one spin all-rounder in the playing eleven for the Nagpur match.
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