Last Updated on 14 hours ago by Charbel Coorey
Shubman Gill has put the spotlight on India’s fitness after their 2-1 ODI series loss to England. The captain lamented the fact that they fielded a very different XI in the final match compared to what they intended before the tour.
Despite the loss, Gill believed India played a “pretty decent” series. However, the inability of the bowlers to win the key moments was a key reason for the defeat according to the skipper.
“Our bowling is a little bit inexperienced,” he said, as quoted by cricinfo. “We were put under the pump in this match and we didn’t respond well. We didn’t start well in the powerplay. We gave away too many loose balls and then were always chasing the game trying to take wickets, create something which didn’t happen for us. By then the game was already ahead of us.”
Our fitness needs to be better ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup: Shubman Gill
Gill said that injuries have forced India to pick different combinations. Washington Sundar (hamstring) and Jasprit Bumrah (impact injury) missed the deciding ODI, along with Harshit Rana (hamstring) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (ruled out before tour with quadricep injury).
“If you look at the first squad we had announced [for the England ODI series], from that minimum five players did not play this match,” he said after the Lord’s loss. “If one player is injured you look at playing another combination, two players are injured you look at playing another combination, but if after every match some player is missing then somewhere we are missing a trick.”
Gill looked ahead to the 2027 ODI World Cup. Winning the tournament requires continuity across 11 matches. Australia, who won in 2023, found their stride as the tournament went on and peaked at the right time.
“If you keep the World Cup as the goal where we have to play 11 matches in a row and here we have players not being able to finish a two-to-three-match series,” Gill said.
“So there is some limitation where our players are not being able to play continuously, they play one or two matches, they suffer a niggle and then we are forced to play a different combination which we originally did not plan to play.
“So keeping all this mind it becomes a little difficult that you come to the ground on the morning and you come to know a player has a niggle, then it’s almost like do you want to take a chance? Some player is 80% fit, you are playing with five bowlers and if this player comes out after bowling five overs, then who will bowl? This is difficult. So as a group we need improved our fitness and all those things.”
India’s next ODI assignment is at home against West Indies. The three-match series starts on September 27 in Thiruvananthapuram.
