India’s batting star Shubman Gill has promised to be a more poised and mature version of himself thanks to his 2023 World Cup Final exposure.One more win stood in front of India’s quest to claim a relieving and emotional ICC Men's Cricket World Cup on home soil in 2023. But it wasn’t to be.Australia beat the hosts by six wickets in Ahmedabad – heartbreak for Rohit Sharma’s side.
They played almost the perfect tournament, winning all nine group stage games and dominating New Zealand in the semi-final.But as all cricketing stars can attest, ICC event deciders are, quite simply, different. Just ask Shubman Gill.India’s 25-year-old sensation has made a successful climb to the top of the ICC’s ODI Batting Rankings and will now attempt to assist India in taking that last step to the summit of 50-over cricket, an ICC report said.
The world’s top-ranked batter has a crucial job for his side in the Champions Trophy finale on Sunday, attempting to make sure India’s batting innings can remain on schedule in the early stages. In doing so, he can help release some of the pressure on their middle order, which can become an overwhelming feeling of tension in a tournament decider like the one coming up.That’s what Gill and his side felt in 2023.
“Obviously some nerves in that match,” he said, ahead of India’s date with New Zealand in Sunday’s decider."“I learned a lot of things. It was my first ICC Final … I was very excited,” Gill said.
Gill hinted that he’ll draw on the experience of the 2023 World Cup decider to ensure he approaches things with more patience, and not feel quite as rushed, this time around."It felt like I was losing time to dominate in that game,” he continued.“I think in big ICC knockout matches, you can give yourself a little bit more time than you think,”Gill said.
“We lost the World Cup Final in ‘23 and then won in the T20 World Cup in 2024. So I think we have got good momentum going with us in this tournament. It's going to be a really exciting game for us and definitely, if we are able to win this one, I think it would be a great way to end this format this year,” Gill said.
“It’s a very big opportunity for us and in general, in any ICC tournament or any ICC event that happens, we have a lot of responsibility, a lot of pressure from our fans. And the last two ICC tournaments that we have played, we went on to make the Final,” he said.India will look to maintain a stranglehold on their status as the world’s top-ranked side in both ODI and T20I cricket, one win away from completing a rare tournament double in back-to-back Men’s events, following their success in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup last year.(UNI)
