On KL Rahul’s removal as India vice-captain for the remaining two Tests against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India captain Rohit Sharma offered his initial response.

Even though KL Rahul’s place in the Indian Test XI is the most talked-about topic on social media and among experts, it hasn’t affected Team India’s preparations for the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy test against Australia, according to captain Rohit Sharma’s remarks at the Indore pre-match press conference. After his string of low scores since the South Africa tour last year, Rahul’s position was always up for debate. His failure in the first two Tests in Nagpur and Delhi, as well as his subsequent removal from the vice-captain’s position, only added to the chorus. However, Rohit did not alter his position regarding Rahul in any way.

Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid made it clear after India’s six-wicket victory in the second Test that the team management will always back players like Rahul, who have scored multiple hundreds overseas and are extremely talented. The Indian captain added that Rahul’s removal as vice-captain of the Test team “indicates nothing” on the eve of the third Test. It should be noted that India has not named a vice-captain for the remaining two Tests of the series.

“I said it after the last game also. When we talk about players going through a tough time, anyone with potential will be given enough time to prove himself. Being vice-captain or not being vice-captain doesn’t tell you anything. At that point in time when he was the vice-captain, he was probably the senior most. His removal of vice-captaincy doesn’t indicate anything,”

Rohit said on Tuesday.

Shubman Gill, who will start the third Test in Rahul’s place as opener, has been batting longer and catching longer in the slips and forward short-leg, all of which point to a return to the whites. Captain Rohit responded that it is routine when asked about the practice sessions and Gill’s active involvement in the lead-up, which was the most in the series. Rohit stated that he would only announce the XI at the toss.

“As far as Gill and KL both are concerned, that is how they train and practice before any game. Today was an optional training session for the entire group. All 17-18 are in the reckoning. It’s not just about Gill and Rahul. But as far as our XI is concerned, we have not finalized it yet. I prefer it to be announced at the toss. Can’t count out last-minute injuries and all and we will keep it interesting for you guys as well,”

Rohit added.

The few Indian cricketers who attended the optional practice session on the day before the match included Gill and Rohit. Similar to Monday, Gill batted long in the nets. Before a Test match, Rahul and a lot of others decided to give the session a bad start, which is not unusual.

India leads the four-match series 2-0, and if they win the third Test, they will not only secure their spot in the World Test Championship final but also the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Gill, who took 54 balls to rush to his century, turned out to be simply the fifth Indian to hit hundreds across all organizations of the game, joining Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and KL Rahul.

Shubman Gill, who recently scored a stunning double century against New Zealand, continued his destructive play in the T20Is and scored his first century in the format against the Black Caps in the series decider at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Gill, who took 54 balls to reach his century, joined Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, and KL Rahul as the fifth Indian to score hundreds in all formats.

As a result, Gill became the youngest Indian to score a century in a Twenty20 International match, surpassing Suresh Raina’s record. In comparison to Raina, who scored 101 against South Africa in 2010 at the age of 23 and 156 days, Gill reached the milestone in 23 years and 146 days.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, India posted a massive 234/4 with Gill remaining unbeaten on 126 off just 63 balls. This is India’s highest T20I score ever against New Zealand.

Gill’s century added another feather to his cap, proving his dominance. The opener for India now holds the record for the highest individual score in a T20I, surpassing the previous record held by Virat Kohli just a few months ago with 126. Kohli, a former captain of India, set a record by scoring 122 runs off 61 balls in his maiden T20I century against Afghanistan at the Asia Cup 2022, which only lasted 146 days.

Throughout his innings, Gill was unrelenting

Gill made his intentions clear in the third over, cracking Lockie Ferguson for 11 runs after scoring only two boundaries in the first two overs. In the subsequent match, he was even more brutal, breaking Blair Tickner’s boundaries three times. Gill waited his turn at the other end as Rahul Tripathi became the aggressor, but once the No. Gill was free to go all out because three batters died.

Between overs 10 and 14, Gill only hit one four and one six. Gill, on the other hand, went into overdrive when captain Hardik Pandya arrived to keep Suryakumar Yadav company after his 12-ball, 24-run cameo. He raced into the 90s by hitting sixes off Ben Lister, two more maximums, and a four off Ticker. Gill reached the three-figure mark with a fantastic cover drive off Ferguson, but he didn’t stop there. He scored 17 off the final over, enabling India to easily surpass the 200-mark and more.

ALSO READ: Wishing a happy birthday to Shoaib Malik!

Gill realized that if Ishan Kishan’s poor streak of scores continued, it would be his night to shine. He got a lot of help from Tripathi, who got to 44 in 24 balls and hit four boundaries and three sixes in a very entertaining innings. Gill had excellent partnerships with everyone, including an 80 against Tripathi, a quick 38 against Sky, and an explosive 103 against Hardik in just 41 balls.

The fastest bowler in New Zealand, Ferguson, was bowled out for 54 in four overs, and Tickner was bowled out for 50 in three overs. In contrast to the previous two matches, India cruised to their fifth-highest T20I total. NZ suggested as many as seven bowlers.

WI vs IND, 3rd ODI: India 225 for 3 (Gill 98*; Dhawan 58, Iyer 44, Walsh 2-57) beat West Indies 137 (Pooran 42, King 42, Chahal 4-17) by 119 runs by means of DLS strategy.

The first two matches of the series were tight challenges where the two teams stayed in dispute until the last ball was bowled. Though, India had it a lot more straightforward during the third ODI in Port-of-Spain, as the visitors finished a 3-0 sweep of West Indies following contributions from Shubman Gill, who hit a career-best 98 not out, Shikhar Dhawan, who got 58, and Shreyas Iyer, who contributed a quickfire 44. Every one of their bowlers contributed as well, as West Indies fell away fast during the chase.

The hosts were approached to pursue a DLS-revised target of 257 out of 35 overs after India posted 225 out of 36, their innings ending early after a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay had previously trimmed it down to 40 overs.

Mohammed Siraj put West Indies on the back foot in the second over of the pursuit, when he tidied Kyle Mayers up with a decent length delivery prior to catching Shamarh Brooks in front with one that calculated in. West Indies were 0 for 2 at that stage, with nine deliveries gone.

Brandon King and Shai Hope momentarily brought them back in the groove again with a 47-run stand before Yuzvendra Chahal had Hope stumped for 22. King was then joined by Nicholas Pooran in another partnership that gave West Indies trust, before Axar Patel’s arm ball in the fourteenth over bowled King for 42.

However, following, Pooran fired a six and four off Deepak Hooda, keeping his side above water as the expected rate drifted around eight an over. Nonetheless, Keacy Carty’s battle to get moving at the opposite end appeared to return tension on Pooran; when Carty at long last chosen to try something different, he skirted down to Shardul Thakur in the nineteenth over just to base edge on to his stumps for 5 off 17 balls.

By then, at that point, West Indies required almost 10 an over, and in spite of the fact that Pooran hit two additional fours off Axar, he fell for 42 in the 22nd over to everything except end the game, which had been set up by India’s opening batters Gill and Dhawan.

In their third effective partnership in a row- following stands of 119 and 48 and presently 113 – the right-left pair began quietly in what was an innings of two parts from India: the first 24 overs created 115 runs; the following 12 brought 110.

Shubhman Gill-Player of the Match and Series

Gill was chosen as the Player of the Match for his career-best 98* (98) as well as the Player of the Series for his astounding 205 runs.

Gill and Iyer added 86 for the second wicket in under ten overs, compensating for the sedate beginning after Dhawan chose to bat on winning the toss. Dhawan hushed up to begin the innings, his 58 falling off 74 balls on a sluggish pitch where he had tried attacking, yet often failed to time and place the ball.

ALSO READ: SL vs PAK, 2nd Test, Day 4: PAK needs 419 runs

Dhawan hit seven fours, while Gill likewise hit as numerous alongside two sixes. The first two overs after the downpour break saw 31 runs being plundered- including four fours and two sixes – as Gill and Iyer pulled, cut and drove for entertainment only. Their partnership had just barely begun before the rain got through.

Suryakumar fell for 8 after carving one four behind point only two overs before play stopped, with Gill having skipped from 51 off 65 balls at one phase, to an unbeaten, run-a-ball 98. He could regret passing up on a century, as he got just 13 off his last 14 balls – maybe only another ball would have been sufficient to get to significantly increase figures. Eventually, however, it didn’t have much effect on India’s fortunes.

Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris stored immense praise on talented India opener Shubman Gill and said he has what it takes to become perhaps the best player in the world. Gill has gotten back to India’s white-ball set-up and intrigued numerous during initial two ODIs matches against West Indies.

The 22-year-old scored 107 runs in two matches at an average of 53.50 in the ongoing series. However, he failed to change the starts into a major score in both matches. He was run out on  64 in the series opener and was reprimanded for his relaxed methodology while taking the single. In the second ODI, he miscued a slope shot and was excused and bowled by Kyle Mayers.

He made his international debut in 2019 yet has failed to solidify his spot in the XI, in any case, a few cricket pundits have promoted him as the following large thing in Indian cricket.

Styris hailed the skilled India player and said they really love Gill more than him in the world.

“When he (Gill) plays for India at the top, I expect that average to be a lot higher because he is such a classy player. There are very few bigger fans than me of Shubman Gill. I have been very vocal about that over the last couple of years. I think he has the skills and the cricket nous to be one of the world’s best,”

said Styris.

The former New Zealand all-rounder further condemned India substitute chief Shikhar Dhawan for his sluggish strike rate in the second ODI which made things a bit hard for the guests. The southpaw looked a bit rusty on Sunday and was excused on only 13 off 31 balls.

ALSO READ: WI vs IND, 3rd ODI: Will India test bench-strength?

“When you look at Shikhar Dhawan’s strike rate in this match, it wasn’t great. They were off to a slow start, even when Shubman Gill was out, it was 60-odd after 15-16 overs, that’s not a great strike rate when you are chasing 300 plus,” said Styris. “It wasn’t down to Shubman Gill, that’s the key, his strike rate was nearly up to a 100, so he did his part. If Shikhar had done his too, this run chase would have been a lot easier for India,”

he added.

Crucial knocks by Nitish Rana  and Shubman Gill ensured KKR’s win by 6 wickets, with two balls left. Subhman Gill is the play’s Man Of The Month on the 49th game at Dubai International Stadium.

With every game, KKR is improving their strength whereas on the other hand SRH’s vulnerabilities are exposed one after another. Morgan was praised for the bowling group who restricted SRH to 115 and batsmen, namely, Shubman Gill.

It would be an innings Shubman Gill would keep close to his heart not only with lightning stroke-play but also showed a sparkling performance in the middle phase of the innings. Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Shakib Al Hasan have the most distinctive, as well as frightening spin trio in the league. The trio wound up the disheveled Sunrisers Hyderabad in a tangle of knots getting just 58 runs in 12 overs. 

Most importantly, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan is the first one to admit that he has been short of runs throughout the Indian Premier League (IPL) but is confident of finding some form with the tournament hitting the business end. “Yeah, I am short of runs in this phase of the tournament, the whole tournament in general. I am very lucky to be in a position where I have been through stages like this in my career,’ Morgan said.

Chakravarty(2/26), perceptibly, is the most noticeable of the lot, his performance inspiring all the new-age lads of T20 cricket- from the carrom ball to googly, from off-break to leg-breaks. To watch him on loop and understand how his game has taken a turn towards recognizable success!