IND vs NZ 2022-23: India ripped apart New Zealand in the final Ahmedabad T20I by 168 runs and sealed a 2-1 series win. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill played a massive role with his century and was delighted with his current form.
Opening batter Shubman Gill, who played a significant role in India's 168-run victory over New Zealand to nail the three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series with his maiden ton on Wednesday, sounded that he did everything the same during his big innings. Gill remained unbeaten on 126, helping India to post a vast 234/4 after opting to bat. India then bowled NZ out for a scant 66 within 13 overs, registering its most significant success in terms of runs.
"It feels good when you practise, and it pays off. Happy to get the big ones for the team. Everybody has a different technique for hitting sixes. Hardik bhai told me to bat the way I do and that there is no need to do anything extra. When you are representing your country, I don't think there's any fatigue, and I am happy to play all three formats," Gill communicated during the post-match presentation.
Skipper Hardik Pandya said he usually goes by his gut feeling while handling judgments on the field. "I have always played the game like this, trying to read the situation and what's required at that moment and not have pre-conceived ideas. A lot of time, I back my guts," said Pandya, named Player-of-the-Series.
"I have a straightforward rule about my life and captaincy -- if I go down, I go down on my decisions. When I played the IPL [Indian Premier League] Final, I felt the second innings was spicier. We want to normalise these pressure games, and we can do better at bigger stages," Pandya assessed.
A dissatisfied New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner credited India for playing "outstanding" cricket. "Some of their guys are in great nick at the moment. It is tough to win when you lose five wickets in the powerplay. It can be challenging when the ball is swinging. If you look at how India played, they took their time early on, and when it got flat, they had a go at us," Santner articulated.
When questioned about the ICC World Cup in India later this year, Santner enunciated, "I guess that time of the year, there will be some dew around. Most teams might bowl first. We've seen some incredible wickets. If it is like that in October, it will be a great World Cup to be part of and to learn. 320 would be the score we'd want to restrict teams to then."
(With inputs from PTI)