India vs New Zealand ODIs: India and New Zealand are all set to be in action in a three-match ODI series, starting on January 11. Ahead of the first match in Vadodara, skipper Shubman Gill talked about the presence of batting greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The series will mark the return of Virat and Rohit, who have already retired from the Test and T20I formats.
Gill said that having Virat and Rohit in the side during the initial days of his captaincy makes his job a bit easier. The young batter highlighted how the experience and composure of the two stalwarts offer a safety net in high-pressure situations, permitting younger leaders to rely on their judgment and game awareness.
Notably, Gill took over the ODI and Test captaincy from Rohit earlier this year, whereas Virat also has a massive experience of captaining the side in the past. "The two names that you have taken, one is one of the greatest openers of all time, Rohit Sharma, and Virat bhai is one of the greatest ODI batters ever. So definitely, when you have these two in your team, it makes your life easier," Gill said.
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"Whenever you are in a tough situation, they have been in those kinds of situations and conditions many times in their life, so you can always go to them and see how they are thinking and what they would do, and that piece of information is very valuable for any captain," Gill added.
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Virat and Rohit were recently seen in action in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy for their respective domestic teams and had incredible outings. While Virat scored a century and a fifty for Delhi, Rohit also smashed a hundred for Mumbai. They have looked in great touch in the ODI format, and their masterclass was on display during the series against South Africa at home.
The focus will also be on Gill, who will make his comeback after missing much of the series against South Africa a few weeks ago.
India's ODI Squad for NZ series: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja