India captain Rohit Sharma hails ‘classy’ Shubman Gill ahead of Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh

Batter heads into Dubai clash having risen to No 1 in ODI rankings after hitting form against England

India captain Rohit Sharma has heaped praise on Shubman Gill after his rise to No 1 in the one-day international batting rankings on the eve of their Champions Trophy opener.

The Indians face Bangladesh at Dubai International Stadium on Thursday. They were runners up the last time the competition was played, nearly eight years ago, when they lost the final to Pakistan in London.

The competition is being played in two countries after the Indian government ruled their national team could not tour Pakistan.

While the competition was getting under way in Karachi with a game between Pakistan and New Zealand, just over 1,000 kilometres away in Dubai, the Indians were making their final preparations.

They enter the event in fine touch. They thrashed England in a warm-up series this month, during which time Gill announced his return to form with some heavy scoring.

The 25-year-old batter had been run shy during India’s Test tour of Australia in the winter. He bounced back with scores of 87, 60 and 112 against England, rising to the top of the ICC’s ODI standings in the process.

Gill is now Rohit’s understudy, and the captain said he never had any concerns about his prowess in the 50-over format.

“Gill is a very, very classy player,” Rohit said. “There was never a doubt about his ability in this squad. If you mix formats, I don’t think that is the right way to judge any player.

“All players have their strengths in certain formats. If one format doesn’t go well it doesn’t mean that another format will be the same.

“It is there for all of us to see what happened in Australia. Things have changed, certainly in a different format.

“Gill’s numbers are crazy. He has been superb for us in the past three or four years that he has batted. There is a reason he has been elevated to be the vice captain of the team.

“I hope he has a great tournament and that will help us achieve the things we are looking forward to [doing].”

Rohit played down the idea that Champions Trophy success has played on India’s minds given the long hiatus since the last competition. He reasoned that all ICC tournaments are coveted.

“Every title, every ICC trophy that we play for, it is so important,” he said. “Not just in this Champions Trophy, but all the previous World Cups, they were all important for us.

“We come here thinking that we want to lift the trophy but there are so many things we have to do before holding on to it.

“As a team our focus will be on how we can do things right on the field, and how we can move forward. It is a very important tournament.”

All India’s matches will be played in Dubai, no matter how far they make it. The first semi-final is being staged in Sports City, whether India make it through the group phase or not, and the final will also be there if Rohit’s side reach that point.

They have been regular visitors to the city in recent years, including staging a section of the Indian Premier League there during Covid.

“It does assist all types of bowlers so as a batter you have to be mindful of that and try to assess as quickly as possible,” Rohit said of the challenge of playing in Dubai.

“That is what I have done here. Not just here, but anywhere, you try to assess as quickly as possible, then your instinct and your batsmanship, plus the situation of the team, take over.”

While the tournament has been rescheduled so that India’s matches are played in Dubai, the switch could also work in Bangladesh’s favour.

They might be underdogs in the competition, but they are extremely well supported in the UAE. Their age-group side even attracted sizeable crowds when they won the two most recent Under 19 Asia Cups in Dubai.

“Wherever we are going to play, there are a lot of supporters,” said Nazmul Hossain Shanto, the Bangladesh captain.

“They supported us when we win, when we lose. So that is a big part in this game and we feel the crowd will come tomorrow and support us.

“If you look at all eight teams – they are quality teams. And against India, Pakistan, New Zealand, we have good memories.

“We won a couple of matches in recent times. Last year, when we played India in Bangladesh, we have some good memories from then. But that is past, if we play well tomorrow and execute our plan, we will have a good match.”