Dubai [UAE], February 20 : Following his side's win over Bangladesh in the ICC Champions Trophy opener, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma lauded batter Shubman Gill for his century and said in a lighter vein that he could take the youngster out for dinner.
Gill continued his strong form in ODIs, playing a matured, well-composed knock in the face of wickets falling at the other end to guide India to a six-wicket win over Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy opener. In four ODIs this year, Gill has scored 360 runs at an average of 120.00, with a strike rate of almost 95, with two centuries and two fifties. In 51 ODIs, he has made 2,688 runs at an average of 62.51, with eight tons and 15 fifties. His best score is 208.
"Gill, we know the class that he has, Should not surprise anyone. It was good to see bat till the end. May take him for dinner tomorrow (smiles)," Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
On Mohammed Shami, who took a memorable five-wicket haul in his first ICC Champions Trophy appearance, the skipper said, "Very happy for him (Shami), long time waiting. We know what he brings to us. We need guys like him to stand up when we need."
"Before you come and play you got to be confident. As the game goes on there are different emotions that come through. But there is a lot of experience in that dressing room. Gill and KL played really well. Very hard to say that (on pitch playing slow) after just one game. You play the conditions and try and think about what you do. We assessed the conditions well as a team. You are bound to be under pressure in a tournament like Champions Trophy," he added.
On a catch dropped that denied Axar Patel a hat-trick, Rohit said that he should have grabbed it.
"That was an easy catch, I should have taken that catch with the standards I have set for myself. But I do know these things are bound to happen. Credit to Hridoy and Jaker, they stitched a nice partnership."
Coming to the match, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first. India reduced Bangladesh to 35/5 in the first nine overs. Then a 154-run stand between Jaker Ali (68 in 114 balls, with four boundaries) and Towhid Hridoy (100 in 117 balls, with six fours and two sixes) helped Bangladesh reach 228 in 49.4 overs.
Shami (5/53) and Harshit Rana (3/31) were the top wicket-takers for India, with Axar also getting two for 43 runs in his nine overs.
In the run-chase, India was off to a fine start as skipper Rohit Sharma (41 in 36 balls, with seven fours) had a 69-run opening stand with Gill. Then some quick wickets reduced India to 144/4, but Gill (101* in 129 balls, with nine fours and two sixes) and KL Rahul (41* in 47 balls, with a four and two sixes) took India to a win with six wickets left.
Gill is the 'Player of the Match' for his century.