Arshdeep Singh puts Shubman Gill on same pedestal as Rohit Sharma

The star India National Cricket Team left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh has opened up on the difference between the captaincy styles of Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma.

Arshdeep Singh spoke on this topic after the end of the first ODI match of the series between the India National Cricket Team and the Australia National Cricket Team at the Perth Stadium on Sunday, October 19.

India's top 3 fail in the 1st ODI

The top three of the Indian team - Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli - failed miserably in the first ODI against the Aussies. Former skipper Rohit Sharma was the first one to fall as he was dismissed for 8 runs on the fourth ball of the 4th over.

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Then, on the first ball of the 7th over, Virat Kohli was cleaned up for a duck. Soon, Shubman Gill followed the two Indian legends back in the hut as he was dismissed for 10 on the first ball of the 9th over.

Rohit, Gill, and Kohli combined to score just 18 runs, which was the lowest combined aggregate by the trio in an ODI where all three batted.

It was quite a disappointing outing from the trio because a lot was expected from them. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were making their comeback to international cricket and practiced hard in the nets to prepare themselves for the matches.

Shubman Gill, on the other hand, had a captaincy burden on his shoulder, and the team management would have been hoping to see him replicate his heroics from Anderson-Tendulkar.

Talking about Virat Kohli, he played an expansive drive off Mitchell Starc and was caught by Cooper Connolly superbly. With this dismissal, Mitchell Starc became just the second bowler to dismiss Virat Kohli for a duck on two instances after James Anderson in international cricket. Also, it was the first time in 30 ODI innings in Australia that Virat Kohli bagged a duck.

They give you proper freedom - Arshdeep Singh on Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill

India faced a crushing 7-wicket loss in the ODI series opener as they could only post 136/9 on the board, and Australia got a target of 131 runs to chase in a 26-over-per-side contest, which they chased down easily.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Arshdeep Singh was asked about the difference between Gill and Rohit as captains. He responded by saying that both are very similar and could be labeled as bowlers' captains. He said, as quoted by RevSportz,:

“ODIs I have played very less, so I can’t tell the difference yet, but I’d say both of them are proper bowler’s captains. They give you proper freedom, and even today Shubman, whatever plans we had, he said, ‘bowl freely to your plans and just enjoy the moment’."

We knew we didn’t have that many runs but we just wanted to express ourselves - Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep Singh added that they got a simple message from their skipper to express themselves because there weren't enough runs on the board. He said:

“We knew we didn’t have that many runs but we just wanted to express ourselves, that was his message. And it’s just the start and surely he’ll have a great time ahead.”

During the interaction with the reporters, Arshdeep Singh also said that he tries to adapt as soon as possible to whatever format he is playing and is trying to evolve himself as a bowler. He stated:

"I try to adapt as soon as possible, how the other batters are playing, and how much help I am getting from the wickets. So I keep trying to learn, in which format I have to bowl, and what help I am getting on which wicket. So I keep trying to evolve as a player.”

Also Read: Shubman Gill blames Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli for India’s loss to Australia in 1st ODI