Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar lauded ODI skipper Shubman Gill for showing maturity and respect towards Rohit Sharma during the rain break in the series opener against Australia at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Sunday, October 19. The two were spotted sharing popcorn in the dressing room while waiting for play to resume.
Nayar’s Humorous Advice: “Just Don’t Offer Him Popcorn”
Nayar, who has worked closely with Rohit Sharma in the past during his fitness transformation phase, humorously warned the new captain not to tempt Rohit with popcorn.
“𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒂,” 𝑵𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔.
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 — 𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒏.”
Nayar further added that Gill’s gesture reflected his understanding of team dynamics and leadership responsibility.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒘𝒌𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Tough Day for India’s Openers in Perth
Earlier in the match, both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill had a difficult outing under overcast skies after being asked to bat first. Facing a fiery new-ball spell from Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, India lost early wickets as Rohit was dismissed for just 8, while Gill managed only 10 in his debut as ODI captain.
Frequent rain interruptions further disrupted India’s rhythm, reducing the game to 26 overs per side. The visitors managed 136/9, with KL Rahul top-scoring with 38 off 31 balls. For Australia, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Owen, and Matthew Kuhnemann took two wickets each. As per the DLS method, Australia were given a target of 131 runs.
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