Shubman Gill makes up for lost time
Gaurav Kanthwal
Pune, October 18
A day ahead of the match, India’s net session had only opener Shubman Gill, wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan, and all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya slogging it out, with team coach Rahul Dravid supervising the session at the MCA International Stadium here.
Gill and Kishan batted in tandem and faced pacers in the nets. Jadeja kept an eye on them, occasionally bowling at them. Gill was particularly focussed on facing left-arm pacers from around the wicket, honing his defence.
Bangladesh have left-arm pacers Shoriful Islam and Mustafizur Rahman in their ranks who could make things difficult for the Rohit Sharma-led side.
At one point, the opening batsmen’s booming aerial hits were greeted with chants of ‘Dhoni’ by a group of schoolchildren who had come to see the Indian team train. Sitting in neat rows, the children from the RMD International School, Chinchwad, broke free as the DJ started playing peppy numbers while the batsmen’s shots echoed in the near-empty stadium.
Towards the end of the session, Gill practised slip-catching. The pitch was watered before the covers were put on till tomorrow afternoon.
Gill has not had enough time on the wicket in his maiden World Cup as he was ruled out due to dengue for the first two matches. The 24-year-old scored 16 runs off 11 balls against Pakistan.
Bangla fans in Pune
Around fifty Bangladesh journalists and a dozen hardcore Bangladesh fans have reached Pune for the tie. Bullu from Dhaka and Ruby from Khulna are enamoured by the charms of the city. “It’s beautiful. We like it very much. Hope Bangladesh win the match here,” they said. The group included super fan Shoaib Ali Bukhari, who paints himself as a tiger. Bukhari, a car mechanic by profession, was a crowd favourite here today.
Park that thought
Unable to get tickets, Gahunje landowners are a disgruntled lot as they will not be able to witness the inaugural World Cup match being held at their village. “It is a matter of shame for residents as relatives are asking for tickets and we have nothing to show,” said Bal Patil, a local. But there is a silver lining for them as they are renting out their vacant land as parking lots for spectators’ vehicles. For the five matches here, they are hoping to earn Rs 1 lakh per acre.
