IND vs ZIM: " He Gets Serious While Batting" - Axar Patel on Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill scored his maiden ODI ton in the third ODI against Zimbabwe on August 22, Monday. He scored 130 off 97 balls batting at number three to take India to 289/8. They won the game by 13 runs as the hosts were bowled out for 276 as they tried to chase the score down. Sikandar Raza scored 115 off 95 balls for his side but his effort went in vain as India completed a whitewash.

The series has been a memorable one for Shubman Gill as he ended as the Man of the series scoring 245 runs in three games. Gill was also the Man of the Series in the series against West Indies prior to the one against Zimbabwe. He is up there as one of the options for the third openers’ slot in ODI cricket for India. Gill scored 483 runs in IPL 2022 and since then has been consistent in whatever little opportunities he has got for the national team.

Meanwhile, in the post-match press conference, Axar Patel spoke about Shubman Gill’s innings and his demeanour as a cricketer. He was asked whether the Indian opener is serious off the field as he looks on it. Patel came up with an epic response to this query from one of the reporters.

“Itna serious nahi hai, jab batting karta hai toh serious ho jaata hai (He is not so serious. He gets serious while batting). He (Gill) jokes around with everyone. But mostly he enjoys with Ishan (Kishan), me and Avesh (Khan),” said Axar.

Axar also spoke about how the Indian opener has worked on reducing his dot-ball percentage. He said that not conceding too many dot balls is one of Gill’s strengths.

“He is taking singles and twos more regularly and is not playing a lot of dot balls. I think that is his biggest positive. Whenever he bats, he makes it a point to keep rotating the strike. He also converts bad balls into boundaries. He also plays spinners very well and is very good with the sweep and reverse sweep,” he said.

Gill has played 9 ODIs so far and has scored 474 runs with three fifties and a hundred averaging 71.29 and striking at 105.27.

Also Read: IND vs ZIM: Pleasing To The Eye When Shubman Gill Bats, Good To See Him Use His Form – KL Rahul