IND vs PAK: Look At Scoring, Not Surviving - Gautam Gambhir's Advice To Indian Openers

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has a piece of advice for Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill for the IND vs PAK encounter. Gautam Gambhir urged Indian openers to be clear in their approach to score runs against Pakistan pacers like Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah.

India and Pakistan are set to lock horns in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023. The match takes place on September 2 (Saturday) at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. Rohit Sharma leads India while Babar Azam leads the top-ranked ODI side Pakistan.

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Looking At Scoring Runs, Not Surviving: Gautam Gambhir

While speaking to Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir gave a piece of advice to Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill for facing pacers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. Gambhir urged them to seek to score runs rather than go into survival mode.

“Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, your approach has to be clear against Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. Look at scoring runs, not surviving. When you score runs, you are in better rhythm and have better backlift and footwork,” the cricketer-turned-commentator said.

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Gambhir also noted that Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah have troubled Indian batters in the past. However, ODI is a different format and batters have time to settle into the crease.

“Often, people talk about Shaheen and Naseem troubling the Indian batters in the World Cup. But it’s all in the past now. ODI is a different format, batters have time to settle into the crease.

The more positive you are, the more you create pressure. Keep it simple, past is in the past. It’s a new day, new match, different format. Be in attacking mode,” the former India vice-captain further added.

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are expected to open the innings for India in the IND vs PAK encounter of Asia Cup 2023. Since the start of 2023, both have done a decent job in ODIs as openers.

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Meanwhile, Pakistan has already announced their playing XI for the clash against India. While India will play their opening game in the tournament, Pakistan will play their second match.

Earlier, Pakistan outplayed Nepal by 238 runs in their first match of Asia Cup 2023. Both India and Pakistan are part of Group A in the tournament. Nepal is also part of the same pool.