Star India batter Shubman Gill believes that he would have scored a hundred in the World Cup 2023 semi-final against New Zealand, had he not cramped in the 23rd over. Gill, while batting at 79 off 66 balls got a cramp due to the humid conditions in Mumbai and he had to retire hurt. He, however, returned to play one ball at the end of the Indian innings and remained unbeaten at 80 off 66 balls as well.
Speaking at the post-match press conference after India registered a convincing win by 70 runs, Gill shared that the cramps were the after-effects of dengue as he had lost a bit of muscle mass as well.
“If I didn’t get cramp, maybe I would have scored 100. But I think, the total we were trying to reach, irrespective of whether I scored 100 or not, we reached there and had a hope of scoring around 400. We had expectations, that till the 25th – 30th over we should have scored these many runs and we did that, so it didn’t matter that I made a century or not,” Gill said at the post-match press conference. “It started with cramps and then I pulled my hamstring a little bit and I think these are just it was quite humid and just the after effects of Dengue.”
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However, Shubman Gill and captain Rohit Sharma got India off to a flying start. While Rohit smashed a 29-ball 47-run innings, Gill stepped up later on. Asked about his experience of batting with Rohit, Gill said that it was a learning experience. Gill also joked that he could just sit back and relax as Rohit Sharma faced the majority of the balls in the powerplay in every match as well.
“Everything – everything about him really impresses me, I stand as a learner in the powerplay. He plays 10 overs; I play 15-20 balls. I rest and Rohit comes and does his thing. He scores 4, he sores 6 – and I just watch,” Shubman Gill said in the press conference.
While talking about the nervy moments in the match, Gill said that they knew that it was going to be challenging to bowl outside of the powerplay, but wickets in crucial moments helped them win the match.
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“Honestly, I think we knew it was going to be challenging, especially under the lights and once the new ball gets a bit old, it is a bit difficult for bowlers here to contain runs. So, we knew it’s going to be challenging, but what was important for us was to just keep bowling the areas where we wanted to bowl and wait for them to make a mistake. And that’s what we did. And I think at one point, Daryl and Kane, the partnership that they had, it was looking a bit challenging with such big scores, but, you know, a couple of wickets here and there, you’re always in the game,” Shubman Gill again concluded.
