Indian Test vice-captain Ravindra Jadeja once again proved why he’s India’s most complete red-ball cricketer. After an unbeaten century, the all-rounder followed it up with a four-for as India demolished the West Indies by an innings and 140 runs inside three days to take a 1-0 lead in the Home series. KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel also smashed a ton in the game.
Resuming at their overnight total of 448 for 5, India declared without adding to the score, leaving the visitors a mountain to climb. But the West Indies’ resistance crumbled quickly as they got dismissed for just 146 in 45.1 overs in their second innings.
Gill on bad luck with the toss
Post the completion of the first game of the series Gill spoke to the sports presenters at the venue about his recent stream of bad luck, where he lost the past 6 tosses in a row. “I mean, six (toss) losses in a row, but as long as we keep winning the matches, it doesn’t matter for us, and it’s a perfect game for us, so we are very happy with the win,” Gill said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Honestly, I think this was a perfect game for us. Three centurions in the game, and I think we fielded really well in both innings, we don’t really have any complaints,” India’s new ODI skipper added.
Gill on team India’s performance
While Gill and his fellow left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal missed out on big scores in the game, the young skipper was quick to credit others for their match-winning contributions.
“Definitely, whenever you get a start, I think it was a pretty good wicket to bat on. We both (Jaiswal and himself) got starts but couldn’t convert, there were plenty of other batsmen who converted, so happy for them,” Gill told reporters after the game.
“When you’ve got quality spinners like them, it’s difficult to be able to rotate, but it’s good to have an option of too many, rather than not having that many options, but always difficult, that’s the challenge, and that’s the fun of playing in India. There will always be someone who will be out there, ready to get the job done for the team. The entire team and the young team came out with flying colours,” he added.
Reflecting on the lessons learnt during his test leadership stint, Gill said that he has learnt so many things from the experience and his fellow players over the past months that it’s hard to pin them down in one or two points.
“So many things – it’s hard to pin down on one or two things that I learnt, but I think over a period of two years, how we bonded as a team, and how we got ourselves out from tough situations and difficult situations, that was really pleasing for me to see. We are still a learning side, and I think as long as we keep learning from experiences that we have, I think we’re going to be on the positive side of the match,” the Indian skipper said in his concluding remarks.