Indian captain Shubman Gill recalled his ODI debut against New Zealand which he made in 2019 at Seddon Park, Hamilton. Gill was caught and bowled for nine runs off just 21 balls by Trent Boult.
Since then, it has been a surreal journey for Gill, who has come a long way in his career. Gill is now leading India in two formats and he is currently the number one batter in the ICC ODI rankings.
“Honestly, it feels like time really flew,” Gill said in a video release by BCCI. “Just feels like 2019 was three years ago when I made my debut, played the Under-19 World Cup here. Now coming back here almost after 7-8 years, a lot of good memories here coming on the back of a lot of experience from when I played here first. It’s always nice to come here, play some good cricket.”
Gill said he wanted adapt as early as possible to the red-ball and thus came early to New Zealand. India will play two Test matches against the Kiwis after the ODI series.
“I wanted to get, you know, four, five extra sessions before I joined the team, mainly because of the red ball, wanted to come here, work a little bit on my game,” Gill said. “See how the, you know, how the red ball because I haven’t played a test match yet… wanted to see what are actually the basics. There are, you know, basics, every country you go to… that you have to play at, and respect and in their conditions and I just wanted to learn those basics.”
Gill will focus on the red-ball series after the third ODI and in his absence, Shreyas Iyer will lead the team in the last two games.
The second ODI between India and New Zealand will be played at the Hnry Stadium, Wellington, on Saturday.
