Opener Shubman Gill, who struggled against Pakistan’s formidable pace trio during his painstaking 32-ball 10 in the group stage Asia Cupmatch, admitted that rare encounters against the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf make a ‘difference’ during multi-nation events.
Indian top-order batters have had their issues with Afridi’s deceptive nip-backers and the unorthodox angles he consistently generates. The challenge primarily stems from the limited exposure to facing such bowlers, regardless of having studied countless videos of their bowling performances.
“We don’t play against Pakistan as often as we do against some other teams. We all know that their bowling attack is quite good and when you don’t play against such attacks often it makes a bit of difference in main tournaments,” Gill was frank in his admission that life has indeed been a bit difficult against the troika of speed merchants.
India get to play Pakistan only during Asia Cup or at the ICC events.
Gill said that he was also banking on the left-arm throw-down specialist Nuwan Seneviratne to dish out an improved show against Afridi, and in general against Pakistan quicks.
“Definitely (training has helped). He (Nuwan) has been travelling with us for the last 7-8 years. It is nice to have that variation. We have that right-arm specialist (Raghu), the side-arm specialist (Dayannd Garani) and the left-arm specialist. It does help in any conditions that you play,” added Gill.
Gill then explained why the Pakistan fast bowlers are making such an impact.
“They are very different fast bowlers and they have their own specialities. Shaheen gets the ball to swing a lot. Naseem is all about pace and likes help from the wicket. They present different challenges in different conditions,” said Gill.
Gill said that Indian batters will have to dominate unlike last time when the top order was blown away for 66.
“As openers, we need to make a good start and dominate them from the beginning,” Gill said.
