India captain Shubman Gill has said that levelling the series in England will be a big achievement for their team, full of youngsters. India have a great chance to level the series 2-2 by winning the fifth Test at the oval set to begin from July 31.
00:00Exactly yesterday, in terms of why the curator did it.
00:05But we have played four matches before this, and we didn't mean it.
00:10And so many crickets have played, and so many crickets have seen, coaches, and captains.
00:17I don't know what the first was all about.
00:30And it has taken a toll out on their bowlers, which is in our state also.
00:37So do you think the scheduling of the five-pack series needs to be much more, much more organized?
00:47So also one of the most important things in this series has been that all the matches have gone up till five days.
00:55And not just five days, the last session of the five days.
01:01I can't remember a series where all the four test matches that were played went up until that last of a moment.
01:10So it's definitely hard three days is too less of a turnaround when both the teams are playing such a hard cricket.
01:17But then also we understand if you keep giving five or six days after every match, the tour becomes very long.
01:28So yes, it is something that I think the decision has been taken by the boards, and we trust the decision that they take.
01:37Shubhan, what are your thoughts on Jaspreet?
01:40Because he bowled one innings in Manchester.
01:43And after this test match, we've got a month off.
01:46So when you think in terms of workload management also, nothing before the Asia Cup series decided on the line.
01:52He had not played in Birmingham.
01:54Is that enough rest for him to turn up for one final time?
01:57Or how are you all thinking about that?
01:59Sir, we're going to take a decision tomorrow.
02:03The record looks pretty keen, so we'll see how it turns out.
02:07Shubhan, this has been a long series.
02:10And as you said, all matches have gone to the last session.
02:13How does it affect you as mentally?
02:16And how much does it suck out of you?
02:18There has been a lot of edginess between the teams as well.
02:21Does that impact that playing such grueling series?
02:24Does that influence your behaviour on the field also, that outburst that happens?
02:29Not really, you know.
02:31I think once you're done with the match, you're done with the match.
02:33And you move on to the next one.
02:35And you want to play the next one as competitive and as best as you can.
02:41And for us, I can say it doesn't really matter what we have done in the last match.
02:46Good or bad, whatever's happened in the last match has gone by.
02:50We want to move on and we want to perform the best in the next one that we can.
02:56Shubhan, as a player you've been involved in five match series earlier.
03:00But this is the first time as a captain and you've come to a very hard country like England.
03:04And as you said, it's all gone to the last hour.
03:06So, as a captain, physically, mentally and emotionally, what kind of toll has this taken in comparison to, say, being just a player?
03:13It's been very exciting and one day before the last test match, I'm here and I'm very excited and looking forward to play the last test match and hopefully win this one.
03:24Level the series for us, it would be a great achievement for us.
03:27Shubhant Riala, obviously you would rather focus on yourselves, but the fact that Ben Stokes is not playing the competitor that he is, the influence that he's had on the series, how do you look at the fact that he won't be lining up over the next five days?
03:41A big miss for definitely England.
03:43I think the way whenever he comes on to bowl or bat, he always makes things interesting, he always makes something happen.
03:51So, from their perspective, I think it is definitely a loss for them, but having said that, you know, the players who come in to play for the country, they are as competitive and they bring as much as to the table as any other players.
04:06Shubhant, I appreciate you answered already, but can I ask you, in English, what you made of Gambia's outburst yesterday and is he under pressure given everything, the toil that this series has taken on everyone?
04:20Not really, I mean, if someone's, if a pitch creator is going to come and ask us to not look at the wicket and look at the wicket from three meters from behind, that's not something that has happened to us before.
04:32We've been playing cricket for such a long time and as long as, like I said, as long as you are under rubber spikes or you're barefoot, you're allowed to look at the wicket from close quarters and that's the job of the coach and the captain.
04:43So, I don't know why the curator didn't let us or didn't allow us to do that.
04:48Hi, Shubhant. Number three has been a little bit of, you know, a concern, if that's the word, for you guys and also the fact when you have a lot of youngsters making their debut and like, you know, and a lot not so memorable performances, how do you handle them?
05:04Like, as a captain, we have always spoken about, you know, being, communicating well and, you know, having your back around them.
05:11So, how do you, you know, back youngsters when they don't have a good in the office or something like that?
05:17He scored a half century in the, in the last test medal. So, I don't think he had a, he had a bad game. He had a good game. He got out on the first ball in the second innings.
05:26That can happen to any player. But I think, I was, someone was telling me, I think he scored a half century and outside of India after two or three years. So, that's a big plus for us.
05:36Shubhant, while you go into the series with the opportunity to draw the series, you said it's a great achievement. Can you just kind of elaborate on that?
05:45How much you've learned yourself as a captain as well as the kind of team that now you can foresee in the future developing into? Like, why and how significant this to all would be for you, an Indian team?
05:59Very significant. I mean, if you, if you look at the kind of cricket that we have played, sometimes the scorecard of the series as in where we are in the series doesn't determine that.
06:12I think every match that we have played, it was very difficult to decide which team is going to win after four days of cricket.
06:20If we are able to do that for every match for four matches coming outside of India with a relatively young team, I think it is, it is going to be a big achievement for us if we are able to level the series.
06:31And the series has been a great learning curve from me. You know, there are some things that only experience, that you can only learn from experience and I have learned so much from these four matches that we have played.
06:43And hopefully we are going to finish on a high.
06:46Shuman, if you are a player, you are a player, you are a player.
06:49Shuman, if you are a player or an injury, you are a player, you are a player?
06:54What is our situation? Because we have played a extra race for two days, what is the player?
07:00Yes, the player is a player. It is difficult to have played.
07:03We have also played a lot of 160. It is not easy when you are playing three days.
07:11We have played a lot of players, especially in the wickets where fast bowling is used as a spinner.
07:16So I think our fast bowlers and our team are in a good space.
07:21Luckily, we are not available as many players.
07:27But having said that,
07:30we have not been able to play the combination of the wickets and how the weather will be for five days.
07:38So we will see that we will decide the combination of the playing eleven today.
07:43Shuman, first look of the wicket, you are saying that you will decide later.
07:48But England have not gone ahead with their specialist spinner Liam Dawson for this game.
07:52Are India going to think on those lines?
07:54And what is the status with Arshadeep? Could we see a debut for him tomorrow?
07:58Like I said, we are going to take a decision on the playing eleven later this evening.
08:02And yes, they haven't gone with the front line spinner, but I think Bethel and Root, they are going to have their spinning options with them.
08:13And luckily for us, Washington and Jadeja, they have done such a good job with the bat and with the bowl.
08:19So on their front, it is a no-brainer for us.
08:23He is definitely, he is being asked to get ready.
08:30Like I said, we are going to take a decision later this evening.
08:33I will go have a look at the wicket. I haven't had a chance to look at the wicket.
08:36See how the weather is going to be in the next five days and then take the decision.
08:40Captain, if you can specify, what is the main reason that has convinced you to play a batter,
08:46batting option till number eight and not a specialist bowler so far in the series?
08:52I mean, if you look at Washington, he is someone who gives us so much control with the bowling.
09:00And his batting has been a really, really, really big plus for us.
09:05And we are fortunate to have players like that in our team, you know, who can prevent a collapse whenever it happens.
09:13In the lower middle order, we have seen that that was one of the areas where we thought we needed some work, our lower middle order.
09:20And with him coming in, I think we have improved that area.
09:25Shubman, there have been several incidents throughout this series of teams sort of coming together or, you know, arguing on the field.
09:32How would you describe the relationships between the England and India teams?
09:37I think the relation is fantastic.
09:39But when you are on the field, you are trying to win a game at the end of the day.
09:42And both the teams have been very competitive.
09:45And sometimes when you are competitive, you know, in the heat of the moment, you do or say things that you might not do.
09:52But I think once the match is over, there is there is mutual respect between both the teams.
09:57So there are no regrets for anything that's gone on on the field?
09:59No, not at all.
10:01Just on that, there have been three incidents at Lourdes and at the end of the last game and then again yesterday.
10:13Are you looking at those as separate incidents each individually?
10:17Or do you think that over your trip, maybe the, I don't know, the hospitality hasn't been the level that you would expect?
10:24No, nothing of that sort. I think these are three very separate moments, not correlated at all.
10:31I think I've already explained what happened at Lourdes and about even the incident that happened on the last day in the previous test match.
10:39I have given my thoughts and opinions on that.
10:43And what happened yesterday, I thought, is just absolutely unnecessary.
10:46I mean, it's not the first time that we were having a look at the wicket.
10:50And we have been here for almost, I think, two months.
10:55And like I said, a coach has every right to be able to go close quarters and have a look at the wicket.
11:01And I didn't think that there was anything wrong with that.
11:04I actually don't know why the curator would not allow us to go have a look at the wicket.
11:11Shubhan, you just spoke about having all-rounders in your team in the lower middle order.
11:16As a captain, what kind of challenges is it for you to sort of, if you have six bowling options to, you know, ration the number of overs over six options?
11:27What are the thoughts that go through and how do you decide game by game?
11:31It's very difficult. You know, when you're playing six bowlers, you know that one or two bowlers are definitely going to go under bowl.
11:36Because you have to, sometimes, what I've felt in the series, like in the last match, a lot of people also felt that Washington would have come in earlier.
11:47Which is a valid point, but sometimes when you're out in the middle, you see, with this ball, when there are two spinners bowling early in the innings,
11:55it's very hard to maintain the ball. And the fast bowlers go out of the game for about eight to ten overs.
12:00Because then you, again, need to maintain the ball. So, in hindsight, you can, there would always be opinions and there would always be thoughts,
12:10you know, you could have done this, could have done that. But what matters is when you are out there in the middle,
12:14you want to be able to make a decision that you think would suit the best for that moment.
12:19And when you're playing with six bowling options, there would definitely be some opinions where, you know,
12:25one bowler is going to go under bowl. But it's good to have more bowling options rather than not having bowling options for sure.
