A remarkable partnership worth 165 runs between openers Shubman Gill (77) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (84*) helped team India attain a convincing 9-wicket win over hosts West Indies in Lauderhill. Kuldeep Yadav (two wickets for 26 runs) and Arshdeep Singh (three wickets for 38 runs) stood out as standout performers with the ball. India's win in 4th T20I saw them level the five-match T20Is series 2-2. The series-decider will now be played on Sunday (August 13).
Shubman Gill, after string of single-digit scores (3, 7 and 6) in first three T20Is, made a triumphant return with 77-run innings on Saturday. The knock was not just a much-needed one for Shubman but also for team India as the 23-year-old opener will most likely enter the 2023 ODI World Cup squad as one of their key players.
Ahead of IND vs WI 5th T20I, Shubman Gill said he felt he wasn't making any mistakes earlier (first three T20Is between India and West Indies) with his shots but he just simply failed to convert his starts.
"It's important to go to your basics. You have to identify whether you are making any mistake. I felt I wasn't making a mistake in any of the three matches. But I couldn't convert my starts," Gill told Arshdeep during a post-match chat after fourth T20I.
"T20 format is like that. When you have 3-4 matches where a good shot is caught by the fielder, and you have to eye at making quick runs, you don't have time to think much. You just look at what your template was when you were consistently scoring runs."
After a stellar outing in IPL 2023 (890 runs; 100s x 1, 50s x 4 from 17 matches), Orange Cap winner Shubman Gill suddenly lost form on his return to international cricket with World Test Championship final, followed by back-to-back poor outings on the West Indies tour.
Shubman Gill represented India in 2 Tests, 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is on West Indies tour and in all likelihood will play the 5th T20I as well. In two-match Test series, he managed to score 45 runs at an average of 22.50, while in ODIs he scored only 126 runs in 3 matches. Gill was also a flop in the first 3 T20Is, scoring only 3,7 and 6 runs, respectively.