ICC U19 World Cup 2018: Shubman Gill talks about his century vs. Pak and playing in IPL 2018

India will play Australia in the U19 World Cup final on Saturday.

Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw during the post match presentation | Getty

India defeated Pakistan in the semifinals of ICC U19 World Cup 2018 by a massive margin of 203 runs to secure a place in the finals against Australia. India has won the tournament in 2000 (Mohammed Kaif), 2008 (Virat Kohli), 2012 (Unmukt Chand) while losing two finals in 2006 (Cheteshwar Pujara) and 2016 (Ishan Kishan).

The hero with the ball was Ishan Porel who picked 4 wickets, while the hero with the bat was Punjab’s Shubman Gill, who made a chanceless 102* in 94 balls.  During the post-match presentation Gill, who won the Man of the match award, said "I rate this innings very highly as it was against Pakistan. The pitch was on the slower side and it was not easy for strokeplay. I am happy to have got the Man of the Match award.

"I would like to play all three formats as adaptability is the key," said Gill, who hails from Firozpur in Punjab and was bought by KKR for 1.8 crores during the IPL 2018 auction.

It was an outstanding performance from the bowlers as well as the batsmen. I am very satisfied with the performance. I am expecting an exciting contest against Australia in the final. I would also like to thank the crowd for their support," skipper Prithvi Shaw said after the match.

Rahul Dravid, the U19 coach has now led the U19 team to two consecutive U19 World Cup finals. India and Australia have previously clashed in the 2012 U19 World Cup finals and India has won that contest thanks to a century from captain Unmukt Chand.

Though the pace duo of Nagarkoti and Mavi didn’t pick any wickets, the pressure build by them led to Porel seizing the opportunity and demolishing the Pakistani top order. After that, slow bowler Shiva Singh (2/20) and Riyan Parag (2/6) finished off the tail in no time to give India a big win over rivals.

 

 

 

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 30 Jan, 2018

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