India head coach Gautam Gambhir praised Shubman Gill and emphasised the need to back young players after the 25-year-old’s century laid the foundation for India to beat England by 142 runs in the third One-Day International in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Gill headed to the white-ball series on the back of a suboptimal tour to Australia where he scored just 93 runs in five innings at an average of 18.60. But Gambhir said Gill has all the makings of a talismanic batter across formats.
“The problem is that we keep judging people after every inning. He’s still a young batter. Test cricket is tough and he’s done well there too. He’s shown that he belongs to that format as well. So, by judging a young cricketer after every innings, we are not going to carry Indian cricket forward like that. He is still 25. Imagine what can happen in the next couple of years if we keep backing him, and keep backing a lot of young cricketers in the dressing room,” Gambhir said after the match.
Shreyas Iyer also chipped in with crucial runs through the middle overs across the three games against England. The Mumbai batter only featured in the first match after Virat Kohli suffered a knee injury that ruled him out.
But Gambhir assured that Iyer was always in the reckoning to make the lineup during this series.
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“He wasn’t supposed to be benched throughout the series. Wanted to give Yashasvi [Jaiswal] a go in the first game and see what he could bring to the table because he was in really good form in Australia. [But] We always knew that Shreyas was going to be an important player for us. He’s done [well] at number four for us. He’s just an important player,” Gambhir said.
India was dealt a blow on Tuesday when Jasprit Bumrah, who is suffering from a back injury post the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was ruled out of the Champions Trophy.
But despite his absence, India was able to bowl out England in all three games.
“It’s still early days, Yeah, guys have shown some really good signs. Harshit [Rana] has come along really well. Arshdeep [Singh] was really good today as well; he got his first opportunity. Obviously, you would miss a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah. But, then it is always good to have someone like Mohammad Shami back with his experience and quality. Yes, someone like a Harshit or an Arshdeep will have to raise their hand up in the Champions Trophy along with Mohammad Shami. [Someone] Missing could also be a great opportunity for someone else. That is how sport goes and hopefully these guys can deliver,” Gambhir said.
India also reinforced its bowling lineup heading into its Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh by adding Harshit and Varun Chakaravarthy to the 15-member squad.
Explaining the decision, Gambhir said: “The only reason [to add Varun] was because we wanted another wicket-taking option in the middle. We know that Varun can be a massive threat. With a lot of teams who haven’t played him, he could be an x-factor. I’m not going to say that he will start in all the matches but it’s always good to have a strong bowling line up. If he can actually get those wickets in the middle, it’s always going to be an advantage. Otherwise, we know that Yashasvi has got a fabulous future ahead. It’s just that we could only pick 15.”