HARARE, July 13: Shubman Gill was happy to tick off the “chase” box from his skipper’s check list in an emphatic manner as he was glowing in his praise for young team comprising of “great bunch of players”.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (93 off 53 balls) and skipper Gill (58 off 39 balls) hunted down a target of 153 with 28 balls to spare and the skipper expects this team to move forward in right direction.
“Chasing was one thing we talked about. We could not do it in the first game, so good to get it done. The job is not done, though,” Gill stated during the post-match presentation.
“This is a great team, great bunch of players. Hopefully, we will be able to take the team forward.”
With the series already in the pocket, when asked about changes in the playing XI for the final fixture on Sunday, Gill did not reveal anything significant.
“Haven’t had the discussion with the coach. If there are any changes, we will let you know at the toss tomorrow,” he added.
Meanwhile, Jaiswal was adjudged the man of the match for his commanding outing with the bat, while he admitted that he had to enjoy the decent batting turf at play on Saturday.
“I really enjoyed my batting today. I had my plans for different bowlers. The ball was coming on when it was new and as it got old, it was quite slow. I enjoyed batting with Shubman,” he said.
“I understood and changed my game. We really enjoyed together. Initially, I wanted to go after my shots. After that, I wanted to rotate and wanted to stay till the end.”
Jaiswal said that for him, the more important aspect is his process of preparation. “My diet, sleeping pattern, how I am executing my plans in practice
However, on the other hand, Zimbabwean captain Sikandar Raza had a contrasting take on the Harare pitch, which he felt was slow, especially when his team was put in to bat first.
“I think because the wicket was a touch on the slower side, we thought 160 was a par score, but 180 wouldn’t have been enough. Today is the day you hold your heads high and say they batted better,” he opinionated.
“The heavy roller did the trick for them. It became a beautiful wicket.”
But Raza expressed his confidence in the team gaining confidence and that they would become a competitive side soon.
“I am very sure we will be a very competitive side in a short time. There was a bit of kick (and) bounce, and we had to reign ourselves in. We will want to finish the series 3-2 tomorrow,” he concluded.
Worked a lot on my cutters and yorkers: Khaleel Ahmed
Notably, Khaleel bowled quite a few slower deliveries, and the trick worked against the Chevrons, as he seized the wickets of Dion Myers (12) and Clive Madande (7) in the closing stages of the innings.
Commenting on the same, the 26-year-old thanked his stint as a reserve player for the Men in Blue during the T20 World Cup in the Americas, where he worked on his slower ones.
“I was part of the World Cup reserves, and there, I worked a lot on my cutters and yorkers. I am very happy with my performance. The kind of rhythm I have got, and the execution has been great,” he told the broadcaster following the victory.
“This series is everything for me. When I was not part of the dressing room, I was missing it a lot. Very happy to be a part of it. We have all played in the IPL; we are all together in this.” (PTI)
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