Captain Shubman Gill has identified fielding and death bowling as critical areas requiring refinement, despite India’s series victory over the West Indies. With the ODI World Cup on the horizon, Gill emphasized these aspects as key focus points for the team’s continued development.
“I feel sometimes we are not really clear whether we are attacking or we are defending, especially when we are bowling in the death overs,” Gill remarked during the post-match presentation. “In One-day cricket, if the opposition is five or six down, you are never really sure what fields to take, whether we are going for the death too early or we are still, you know, bowling kind of like middle overs. I think these are some areas which definitely we need to be better at.”
India played without their premier bowling lineup for much of the series, as Jasprit Bumrah was occupied with the Asian Games and Hardik Pandya was sidelined with an injury. Coach Gautam Gambhir acknowledged this, noting that the squad selections reflected a dual focus on testing depth and securing victories.
Mohammed Siraj featured in only one of the three matches and did not bowl during the death overs in that game. In New Chandigarh, debutants Anshul Kamboj, Gurnoor Brar, and offspinner Naman Dhir were tasked with bowling in the final ten overs. Similarly, in Guwahati, debutant Auqib Nabi played a key role in restricting the West Indies in the latter stages of the match. While bowlers from both sides struggled under challenging conditions, the experience gained by the squad is expected to prove invaluable ahead of the World Cup in October.
In the final match, India opted to bat first, suffering a brief collapse to 4 for 2 before rallying to post a total of 351. Assessing the team’s overall performance across the series, Gill stated he was “decently pleased” with their progress but stressed that fielding standards must improve. “Overall in the series, I think we dropped six or seven catches, which is not a good sign leading up to the World Cup. You want your fielding to be top-notch,” Gill added.
Although satisfied with the competitive total on the board, Gill acknowledged that the West Indies gained momentum following a slow over-rate penalty after the 46th over. This infraction forced India to bowl the final overs with only four fielders on the boundary instead of the standard five. “I think the game was in control,” Gill reflected. “But, you know, being behind four overs and then in the last, I think they took the game away from us. Had we not been short on the overs, I think the game might have gone to the last over.”
Gill concluded the series as the Player of the Tournament, amassing 334 runs, including an unbeaten double-century during the successful chase of 406. However, he expressed disappointment with his early dismissal in the final match, which came after edging a Jayden Seales delivery to Shai Hope, who made a spectacular full-stretch one-handed catch. “I mean, you’re always disappointed whenever you get out early, but I think today there wasn’t much I could have done about that ball,” he concluded.