IND vs NZ 2023: The way Gill is batting in ODIs is just wonderful to watch: Rohit Sharma

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has heaped praise on Shubman Gill for his outstanding form. Rohit said it is wonderful to watch the way Gill is batting in ODIs. The youngster has taken the 50-overs format like fish to water and he has been super consistent in his young career.

Gill scored his fourth ODI century against New Zealand as he scored 112 runs off just 78 balls in the final ODI at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore on Tuesday. The 23-year-old added 212 runs with skipper Rohit Sharma to lay down the foundation for a big score.

Gill amassed 360 runs in the three-match series, the joint-most in a bilateral series along with Pakistan skipper Babar Azam. The youngster scored his runs at an average of 180 and a strike rate of 128.57.

Rohit hailed Shubman Gill for batting deep in his innings and pacing his knock with guile. Gill has shown all the potential to go a long way in his career and he is grabbing his chances with both hands.

Rohit said in the press conference, “The way he was batting in this series and before this series, I don’t think much needs to be told. He understands his batting, he paces his innings well. That is what you want in one-day cricket. You want to go big, you want to go deep in your innings. He has shown that. He has got big hundreds.

“No matter how flat the pitch is, to get a double hundred is not easy. In that game, the next best score was 34. It shows that he was calculative and he knows that he needs to bat deep. A set batsman needs to bat for as long as possible. That is probably the reason we got 350-plus (349) in that game. He has got great maturity in the way he thinks about his game, the way he approaches the game.

“I’ve not played a lot of cricket with him. The first time I saw him was in Australia in the Test series. We all know how he batted in that Test match at Gabba. He has had his time in Test cricket. The way he is batting in ODI cricket is just wonderful to watch. I just get a feeling that he understands his game really well, and that’s the key.”

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma also ended his ODI century drought of the last three years. Rohit scored a century in 2020 against Australia and he broke the deadlock with a fine knock of 101 runs off 85 balls against the Kiwis in the final game of the series. This was Rohit’s 30th ODI century as went level with Ricky Ponting.

“I had never planned for 30 hundreds. I never thought I’d reach there, so going forward I won’t plan as well. I just want to play my cricket, enjoy my cricket and bat the way I am batting at the moment. When the numbers show up, they look nice but I don’t think any cricketer plays for numbers. And I am no different. I want to go there, enjoy my cricket and do well for the team. We could have done a lot of things if we were playing for numbers…

India will now take on New Zealand in the three-match T20I series.