"Shubham Gill wanted to become Rohit Sharma and then ended up being Vijay Shankar" - Fans slam Team India opener for failure in crucial IND-SL 3rd ODI
Team India opener Shubman Gill continued his lean run in the crucial third ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo on August 7. With the side trailing 0-1 and in a must-win situation to finish on level terms, the 24-year-old succumbed to the pressure.
Chasing 249 for victory, India raced to 35/0 in four overs with skipper Rohit Sharma going great guns on 31 from 13 deliveries. Yet, Gill tried to break his shackles and charged down the wicket to pacer Asitha Fernando only to be cleaned up for a dismal 14-ball six.
In his first series after being appointed the Indian ODI vice-captain, Gill failed to deliver, scoring 57 runs at an average of 19 and a strike rate of 61.29 in three matches.
While his overall ODI average remains an impressive 58.20, fans on Twitter slammed Shubman Gill for the recent sub-par performances and his mode of dismissal in the ongoing clash.
Here are some of the reactions:
Fans continued slamming Gill for his failure with one saying:
"Babar Azam 2.0 out after scoring at 42 strike rate when Rohit Sharma was playing over 300 strike rate....Gill has overall strike rate of 61 in this ODI series at same time his co opener's strike rate is 137..... Couldn't show Intent, couldn't statpad either !!"
"Show me biggest fraud in cricket history than Shubman Gill, I'll deactivate my account," said a fan.
"Why is Shubman gill even in the team ? Just few lucky knocks ? Openers before him were Shikhar dhawan Sachin sehwag and now we have a flat track bully as an opener. I take my words back when I said Shubman gill is good for ODI last is good for IPL only," a fan tweeted.
Team India in trouble after Gill's dismissal in tricky run-chase
Shubman Gill's untimely dismissal brought Sri Lanka back in the game after India's racy start to the run-chase of 249 in the series finale at Colombo. Following Gill was skipper Rohit Sharma 16 balls later for a quickfire 35 off 20 deliveries.
The duo's wickets inside the powerplay left India reeling at 53/2 in the eighth over, needing almost another 200 runs for victory. Rishabh Pant, playing his first ODI game since November 2022, fell cheaply for a nine-ball six, and ace batter Virat Kohli fell soon after for 20 as India sunk deeper into trouble at 73/4 in 12 overs.
Earlier in the match, the Indian bowlers staged a tremendous recovery after Sri Lanka's sensational start. The home side raced to 171/1 in the 36th over before a series of wickets left them two runs short of the 250-run mark at 248/7 in 50 overs.
India failed to chase down 231 (tie game) and 241 in the first two matches of the ODI series.