Pallekele, July 25 The focus in the run-up to India’s white-ball series against Sri Lanka has been how new head coach Gautam Gambhir would fare in taking the team forward post the end of Rahul Dravid’s successful stint. Speaking after the practice session on Thursday, vice-captain Shubman Gill said so far, the intent and communication from Gambhir has been crystal clear.
“We have had just two net sessions so far, and this is my first time of working with him (Gambhir). But in the two sessions, the things he has spoken to me, what I found out is that his intent and communication is very clear – like what he wants out of the players and in us going about our business, his communication remains very clear,” said Gill to reporters.
Joining Gambhir in his support staff is assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, with whom Gill has worked during his time at the Kolkata Knight Riders from 2018 to 2021. “He is very hard-working in on-field matters. Till the time the players aren’t satisfied with their on-field skills practising, he also doesn’t go away and remains with them all the time, which I believe is his biggest specialty,” he added.
There was lots of surprise over making Gill the vice-captain for the Sri Lanka tour, but the opener thinks it won’t have an impact on his batting returns. “As a batter, it doesn’t change much. When I am batting out there, I still need to perform and need to be able to win matches for my team and my country – that doesn’t change. But when you are on the field, you need to make a bit more decisions than any other player, which is a major difference.”
How he gels with new captain Suryakumar Yadav is also a keen aspect for onlookers, but Gill has a word for them. “The way of thinking and manner of doing things is almost the same in every player. I did play under Surya bhai in the T20Is in South Africa last year, so the understanding and communication between the two of us are very similar. It's something you will get to see in the matches too.”
Gill, who captained India to a 4-1 T20I series win in Zimbabwe, is also eager to improve his batting impact in the shortest format in the run-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup. “My performance in T20Is before this year’s T20 World Cup didn’t go well as per my expectations. Hopefully, going forward in this cycle, where we would be playing 30 to 40 T20 games, the endeavour will be to get better as a batter, and also in terms of team performance.”
His opening partnership with the aggressive left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has been a source of joy for Gill, who cites understanding as key to the opening stand coming good so far. “We really enjoy batting with each other and the kind of shots we both play, we kind of complement each other.”
“Definitely being a leftie-rightie combination, we have shared really good partnerships in all T20 games we have played so far. Two of those partnerships were 150+ - so the mutual understanding and communication we have has been really good, and that translates into fun we have while batting together.”
Though India have an exciting schedule of Tests and a Champions Trophy till March 2025, Gill signed off by saying doing well in the present will give him confidence to come good in future challenges.
“Playing 10 Test matches in the upcoming period is something I am really looking forward to, especially five of them in Australia. After that, we are playing Champions Trophy, which would be very exciting. But looking at the present, these six matches we are going to play – three T20Is and three ODIs – would be crucial before heading into Test matches.”
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