“Pleasing to the eye”: KL Rahul wax lyrical about Shubman Gill as India thrash Zimbabwe 3-0 in Harare

KL Rahul wax lyrical about Shubman Gill: The Indian captain praised an in-form batter for extending a run-scoring spree.

A clinical 3-0 series victory against Zimbabwe in Harare has achieved multiple motives for India according to captain KL Rahul. Labeling India’s performance as “professional”, Rahul expressed satisfaction at leading the team to his first series victory as captain.

“Feels good. We came here with a few ideas and wanted to use these games. A few of us haven’t got a game for some time and wanted to use the time. We were very professional with how we played. Very happy with the result,” Rahul told host broadcaster after the third ODI today.

While the first two matches of the series were more of one-sided encounters, Zimbabwe really put forward their A-game in a 290-run chase. A 73-ball 104-run eighth wicket partnership between all-rounder Sikandar Raza (115) and pacer Brad Evans (28) had almost won the match for them but it wasn’t to be after Shardul Thakur dismissed Raza in the penultimate over.

In spite of Indian players committing on-field errors especially in the last 15 overs or so, Rahul opined that he wasn’t nervous even when Zimbabwe were within touching distance of winning an ODI against India after 12 years.

“I wouldn’t say nervous but [Sikandar] Raza and [Brad] Evans took it deep. But it is good that we were challenged and the bowlers were tested,” Rahul added. Readers must note that Raza and Evans’ stand was the joint fifth-highest (joint third-highest for Zimbabwe) ODI eighth wicket partnership.

KL Rahul wax lyrical about Shubman Gill as India thrash Zimbabwe 3-0

India’s tour of Zimbabwe 2022 has been added as another chapter in the book elaborating batter Shubman Gill’s talent. Yet to justify his potential in Test cricket, Gill has accepted ODI opportunities with both hands scoring 450 runs in six innings at an average and strike rate of 112.50 and 111.66 respectively in the last one month.

Winner of both the match and series award at the Harare Sports Club on Monday, Gill has already started to establish himself as the third opening batter in ODIs behind Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. Asked about the 22-year old player, Rahul didn’t shy away from appreciating Gill across multiple positives.

“He has batted well throughout the series and did well in West Indies and the IPL. Pleasing to the eye when he bats and good to see him use his form and score runs and good to see his composure and to show the temperament despite not having played a lot of internationals,” Rahul mentioned.