Gill dismisses speculation surrounding Rohit's retirement

Skipper Rohit Sharma has no immediate plans to retire, confirmed Shubman Gill, Rohit's deputy, on the eve of the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand here in Dubai. "Till now we have only been discussing winning the match, winning the Champions Trophy. He has not spoken to me or to the team about this. I don't think Rohit is thinking about it," the India vice-captain said.

The Indian team has a fair idea of the conditions at the DICS, with the mercury soaring in the daytime and a possibility of dew coming into the equation in the nights. "I don't think the wicket is going to behave any differently. We haven't really seen a 300 score here as yet and I think irrespective of the weather, the wicket is going to be similar to what we've been playing on. And I think we as a team have got a good idea of how to play on those kinds of wickets and how to bowl on those kinds of wickets," Gill said.

Gill is excited about playing in his second final of an ICC event, after the 2023 World Cup, which India lost to Australia. "I am very excited. This is my second ICC event for Team India and second final. So definitely I am very excited. I think the last time we could not do it; this time we will try to do it," he said.

The young opener conceded that there will be pressure of the occasion and one cannot treat a Champions Trophy final as just another game. "The pressure of big matches is definitely there. But as we saw in the last match, if we were to talk purely about Australia's bowling attack, they didn't have much experience. Yet because it was a big match, there was pressure. So in such matches, the team that handles the pressure well, that takes the occasion out of the equation and doesn't think that they're playing the final, their chances of winning are better."

Gill also reminded that the experience of playing big games will help eventually, citing Virat Kohli as an example. "We saw Virat in the last match. Because he has played so many important matches for India, played so many finals, so many semi-finals. The more you are in that situation and the more you have handled the pressure; you know that you have already done this. You know the pattern of the game. So, experienced players definitely come in handy."

Gill has been short on runs in the last two games, but he spent a long time at the ICC Academy nets batting alongside Rohit while his teammates were having light fielding and bowling sessions at the DICS.