Team India notched up their fourth win on the trot in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, hammering Bangladesh by seven wickets at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune on Thursday with more than 8 overs to spare. Former India captain Virat Kohli notched up his 48th ODI century to ensure a quick Indian victory but only managed to complete it thanks to support from KL Rahul, who let the senior batter farm the strike.
But in a hilarious ‘behind the scenes’ video released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after India’s win, skipper Rohit Sharma revealed to his opening partner Shubman Gill that he wanted to ‘promote’ all-rounder Shardul Thakur above KL Rahul.
“I told Shardul to get ready on the ball that Shreyas Iyer got out. I told him ‘Shardul, you will be in next’. But Shreyas got out on that delivery and by the time Shardul came down to get ready, Rahul had gone in to bat,” Rohit told Shubman Gill in a video uploaded by the BCCI.
Gill said that fans were waiting to see Shardul bat at Pune which was near his home town of Mumbai, to which skipper Rohit had a ‘hilarious’ response. “He will get a chance. He is a big match player,” said Rohit.
WATCH Shubman Gill’s hilarious chat with Rohit Sharma HERE…
All-rounder Shardul Thakur hasn’t got a chance to bat in the World Cup 2023 so far as India have been chasing in every single match in the tournament and have won all the matches comfortably while chasing as well. “I mean, you can see how confident they are, the way they are scoring runs. Definitely, I think this is one of the things which was talked about, especially leading up to the World Cup, that we were not chasing that well, those big totals, but I think having won all the four matches while chasing, I think it’s a great way to have that momentum with us in those big games that we’ll have moving forward,” Shubman Gill said about chasing targets in the post-match press conference in Pune.
Asked about batting with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Gill said, “To see them how they go about their business in World Cup and in big games is what I always try to learn from them. I think there's a fine line between sometimes being too aggressive or going in the shell, especially playing big games. But I think the way they play, the way their mindset is playing those big games in the World Cup is what I try to learn from them.”
India’s next game is against New Zealand, a side that India have never beaten in an ICC event since the 2003 ODI World Cup. The two sides will face off at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday.
