‘Technically, it was a near-perfect game for me’ - Shubman Gill after his blistering century against New Zealand in 3rd T20I

Courtesy of a Shubman Gill masterclass at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Team India bagged yet another bilateral series defeating New Zealand on Wednesday, February 1. After struggling to score runs in the first two games of the T20I series, the young opener was at his ruthless best, scoring 126* runs off just 63 deliveries. The Kiwi bowlers had no answer to Shubman’s batting as his fearless approach helped the Men in Blue post 234 runs on board after 20 overs.

Speaking to skipper Hardik Pandya after the match, Gill thanked the Indian all-rounder for keeping him calm and guiding him well during an important phase of his knock. Looking back at his innings, Gill also acknowledged that it was a near-perfect game for the cricketer.

“To be able to play how I play, I have to be mentally clear. This is what you (Hardik Pandy) told me. Every time I hit a six, he came and told me - hold your shape in the next ball, you don’t have to do anything extra, just do what you are doing and don’t try to go too hard. Every ball he kept reminding me and that helped."

"In the last over of Santner, I was in the zone and I was hitting. So, I thought I will go after him but you asked me to hold myself back and target other bowlers because he (Santner) is bowling well in the entire T20 series. So, tactically and technically it was a near-perfect game for me,” said Shubman Gill in an interaction with Pandya for BCCI.tv.

I think I bowled at 145 and that kind of gave me happiness and a smile: Pandya

Pandya wreaked havoc with the new ball, picking up the important wickets of Finn Allen and Glenn Phillips. Towards the fag end, he picked up two more wickets and absolutely decimated the Kiwi batting.

Now, since the 29-year-old will play his next game in about two months' time, Pandya tried to bowl quick and he was successful in doing it as he clocked at 145 kmph at one point. This made the cricketer really happy and he later revealed his game plan behind this idea.

“Four wickets to be honest are just part and parcel of the sport but I think I bowled at 145 if I am not wrong and that kind of gave me the happiness and the smile you can see. So, I told him (Gill) today that it is my last game and I am going on a break. So, today gonna be full all guns blazing and I am going to bowl as fast as possible and to be honest, the kind of start we got, it made our life very easier,” said Pandya.

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store