India batsman Shubman Gill gave a diplomatic response when he was asked in the press conference whether he thought Bangladesh spinner Nasum Ahmed intentionally bowled a wide to stop Virat Kohli from reaching his century.
Virat Kohli brought up his 48th ODI hundred on Thursday in Pune helping India win their 4th game on a trot in the World Cup 2023, defeating Bangladesh by 7 wickets.
It came with plenty of drama in the end. When India needed 2 runs to win and Kohli was batting on 97*, left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed bowled a wide down the leg-side, but umpire Richard Kettleborough didn’t give it a wide. According to the new laws, modified in 2022, if the batter shuffles, his initial position when the bowler starts his run-up would be considered; so Kettleborough was correct in his decision to not give it a wide.
With one run needed for the win and three for his century, Kohli then hit a six to both win the match and complete his hundred.
In the post-match press conference, Shubman Gill presented a gracious front by giving the benefit of the doubt to Nasum Ahmed, saying that he doesn’t feel Nasum bowled a wide deliberately and he just got his line wrong.
“I don’t know if he intentionally tried to bowl wide or he was just trying to keep it tight and then went away,” Gill said.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill, too, had a good time with the bat, recording his maiden World Cup half-century. The young opener scored 53 runs in 55 balls. He had missed the first two matches due to dengue.
Talking about his knock, Gill said: “Obviously felt nice. When I was a little sick, I was feeling a bit disappointed on missing out on those opportunities, but definitely felt nice to get some game time.”
India have won all their 4 matches while chasing.
On this, Gill said: “I mean, you can see how confident they are, the way they are scoring runs. Definitely, I think this is one of the things which was talked about, especially leading up to the World Cup, that we were not chasing that well, those big totals. But I think, having won all the four matches while chasing, I think it’s a great way to have that momentum with us in those big games that we’ll have moving forward.”
