IND vs AFG: Shubman Gill wins first ODI series as captain; equals Rohit Sharma's feat
The series win is a significant milestone for Gill, whose previous ODI assignments as captain against Australia and New Zealand had ended in defeats.
Gill has also enjoyed an excellent run with the bat. After leading India to an innings-and-300-run victory over Afghanistan in the one-off Test, he followed it up by guiding the team to a 3-0 ODI series triumph.
The 26-year-old finished as the highest run-scorer of the series with 238 runs in three matches at an average of 238.00 and a strike rate of 135.23. His tally included one century and one half-century.
His performances earned him the Player of the Series award — the sixth such award of his ODI career.
Most Player of the Series awards for India in ODIs
- Sachin Tendulkar – 15
- Virat Kohli – 11
- Sourav Ganguly – 7
- Yuvraj Singh – 7
- MS Dhoni – 7
- Rohit Sharma – 6
- Shubman Gill – 6
Reflecting on the series, Gill was pleased with how India executed their plans.
“A lot of the boxes are ticked. We spoke about keeping the intensity in the middle overs and some of the things that we also spoke about was how can we keep creating those opportunities in the middle overs as a bowling unit and as a batting unit, how can we keep pushing for the extra runs in the middle overs and I think a lot of those boxes were ticked.”
India’s victory in Chennai was set up by Prasidh Krishna, who claimed his maiden ODI five-wicket haul with figures of 5/23, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored an unbeaten 110.
Gill praised Prasidh and fellow pacer Gurnoor Brar for their opening spell.
“Definitely. I think the first spell bowled by Gurnoor (Brar) and Prasidh was outstanding. To see that kind of pace in those conditions was not easy. But I think they kept putting their effort and kept pushing. I mean, definitely you are tempted to give them that one extra over, but looking at the weather, I did ask them if they wanted to bowl that one extra over, but they were pretty exhausted.”
India’s next challenge is a three-match ODI series in England from July 14 to 19.
Gill believes the conditions there will provide useful preparation for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
“Going to England, the conditions would be a little bit more similar to what we get in South Africa, not quite similar, but still close to that. So the kind of combination that we would be looking to play there, hopefully we have all the players fit and ready, it is going to be another great series for us.”
