In India’s 70-run win over New Zealand in the first semi-final of the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium, Virat Kohli made a stunning 117, also his 50th century in ODIs. Kohli’s knock took him past the legendary Sachin Tendulkar's long-standing tally of 49 ODI centuries, which ironically happened in front of the legend at his home ground. Shubman Gill, who made 80 not out off 66 balls, feels Kohli’s consistency of making runs for India has been his most inspiring quality.
“Every time he comes on to the park, he does something special and just how consistently he's been able to do it for the past 10-15 years is what is really inspiring. I think, for me, it's not so much about the skill that he has.”
“But it's more about the hunger when he goes there and the intensity with which he plays the game is what inspires me. To be able to have that consistently for as long as he's been doing it is what really inspires me," said Gill in the post-match press conference.
Riding on excellent centuries from Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, India posted 397/4, which was enough to get the ticket to final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday and extend its winning streak in the tournament to ten matches.
Gill had to retire hurt on 79 in the 23rd over of India's innings due to cramps, though he returned later. He also fielded in the second innings and despite the cramps, Gill confirmed that he will be available for the title clash on Sunday.
"If I didn't get cramp, maybe I would have scored a hundred. But I think the total we were trying to reach, irrespective of whether I scored a hundred or not, we reached there. We had a hope of scoring around 400, we had expectations that by the 25th-30th over we should have scored these many runs, and we did that, so it didn't matter whether I made a century or not."
Gill had missed first two matches of India’s campaign due to dengue and cited its after-effects as reason for cramps, adding that his muscle mass has also reduced. "It started with cramps and then I pulled my hamstring a little bit. It was quite humid and just the after-effects of dengue."
"I have honestly not really adjusted anything in terms of my batting but because I have lost a bit of muscle mass, I think the reserve that I used to have before the dengue has decreased a little bit. You do get cramps when you're playing in humid conditions, but for me (it) happens after a long period of time, not so soon. But because I think I've lost a bit of muscle mass; the reserve has gone down a bit."