With the exception of centurion Shubman Gill, the Indian batters on Friday night struggled against Bangladesh’s spinners on a surface that afforded turn and grip during their six-run loss in the Asia Cup Super 4 game, and the young opener said the batters are working on their skills to tackle such tracks better. (More Cricket News)
Attention must be paid to this area, considering the summit clash on Sunday against Sri Lanka and the ODI World Cup soon approaching, Gill said.
"It is definitely an area that we are trying to improve on. We had a camp in Bangalore before coming here, and we were practising on similar wickets," said Gill after India failed to chase down 265.
"The World Cup is such a long tournament that as we go deeper into the tournament, the wicket tends to get slower."
The in-form youngster said the Indian batting unit is trying to minimize the dot balls by increasing the strike rotation.
"It is not easy for batters who are coming in to rotate the strike and minimize those dot balls. As a batting unit, we are looking to work on it," he said.
Asked about their approach against Bangladesh spinners at Premadasa stadium, Gill said the batters were trying to play the ball late.
"Taking singles was not easy on this wicket. So, we were trying to let the ball come on to the bat because we get more runs square of the wicket on slow wickets. So, we were trying to play the ball late," he added.
The lad from Punjab said he should have stayed back and carried India past the finishing line against Bangladesh, but termed the chase as a good learning experience.
"Sometimes, there is so much adrenaline when you are batting, you miscalculate. It was a miscalculation on my part.
"But when I got out there was a lot of time left, and if I would have batted not that aggressive then we should have gotten over the line. But these are learnings, and fortunately this game wasn't the final."
While he was out in the middle, all-rounder Axar Patel had copped a bit of beating on his right hand during the match against Bangladesh, but Gill allayed any concerns.
"I don't think there is anything wrong with Axar. I think that was temporary and nothing to worry about," he said.
Gill also defended India's decision to rest five frontline players in Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Siraj for the game.
"The reason why we gave rest to all the bowlers is because they played continuously for three days against Pakistan and then Sri Lanka. The bowlers needed a bit of rest, so that they can come back fresh for the final," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
