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Shubman Gill doesn't mince words after losing his first ODI series as India captain: 'When you drop…'
Shubman Gill feels India posted a decent total but addressed the area which let the team down as Australia clinched the ODI series in Adelaide.
Captain Shubman Gill felt India had just about enough runs on the board against Australia, but couldn't cross the line because of the dropped catches. India dropped three catches, with Nitish Kumar Reddy putting down Travis Head and Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj giving Matthew Short a couple of lifelines. While Head's drop wasn't crucial, letting go of Short came back to haunt India as the batter pummeled a half-century, scoring 78 off 74. That India took the game down to the wire, reducing Australia to their last two wickets, speaks volumes about their fightback, and who knows, had they hung on to their catches, the outcome could have been different. Then again, hindsight is always a wonderful thing, isn't it?
India recovered brilliantly from 16/2 to post 264/9 from their fifty overs. Half-centuries from Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer and a timely knock of 44 from Axar Patel propelled the Men in Blue to more than a respectable score, but the fielding let the team down, overshadowing the spirited performance from India's bowlers, which saw Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Washington Sundar grab two wickets each.
Also Read: Shubman Gill loses patience and wicket after Rohit Sharma's agonising plays and misses
"I think we had just enough runs, never easy when you drop a couple of chances. Wicket got better as the ball got older. Toss was more crucial in the first game, not as much this time. Both teams played almost 50 overs. Wicket settled nicely after the first 10-15 overs first innings," Gill said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
India's 17-year streak ends
This is India's first defeat at the Adelaide Oval in the last 17 years and snaps Australia's losing streak of the last three ODI series. Mitchell Marsh was a pleased man to break the jinx. Australia endured a challenging start, much like their Indian counterparts, but after Marsh and Travis Head were sent back, Cooper Connolly emerged as the hero for the Aussies, his unbeaten 61 off 53 seeing the team through. From 246/5, Australia suffered a bit of a scare, losing three wickets for the next 14 runs, but Connoly's steady nerves ensured no further hiccups as Australia sealed the three-match series 2-0 with the dead rubber lined up on Saturday in Sydney.
"[It's] been awesome. It's rare to play in front of big crowds in ODI cricket. Thrilled to have won the series. Josh took the best none-for I've ever seen. We were outstanding with the bat too. I'll start calling him Chaos, future's bright for Australian cricket with guys like them. We'll certainly have a beer and enjoy ourselves in the changing room, but small turnaround between this game and next. India are a great team, so we'll want to enjoy this win," skipper Marsh said after the win.
