Even when wickets were falling, my intent was to punish the bad balls: Shubman

Shubman Gill feels his intent to look for boundaries despite wickets falling at the other end contributed immensely to his sensational double hundred in the first ODI against New ZealandWhile the wickets were falling regularly at the other end opener Gill batted till the 50th over to script a knock for the agesThanks to Michael Bracewells breathtaking 140 off 78 balls New Zealand came dangerously close to chasing down 350 but the barrage of sixes that Gill hit in the death overs made the differenceThe gifted Gill was not getting support from the other end but he kept looking for the odd boundary in the middle overs before going ballistic in the death overs He hammered six sixes in the last 10 balls he facedThis knock means a lot to me I could not convert in the first ODI and third game against Sri Lanka I was looking to get a big score but it didnt happen Once I was set the focus was to score as may runs as possibleAlso readInd vs NZ 1st ODI Shubman Gill scores double ton off 149 balls against KiwisWith the extra fielder inside the circle in overs 1140 we see the other teams pushing in the middle overs Even when wickets were falling I wanted to show intent to the bowlers because its very easy to bowl dot balls if the batter is not showing intentSo that was my intent when the wickets were falling that I will hit you if you are going to bowl bad balls the 23yearold spoke about his mindset during his sensational inningsWhat stood out was his ability hit straight sixes He ended up tonking nine of them on Wednesday With the batters getting dismissed at the other end the message from the dressing room kept changing but it was the 47th over when Gill decided to go after every ballI think once in England I had hit six sixes in seven balls I was itching to unleash myself but with wickets falling at regular intervals and the message from the dressing room was that I have to bat till the endSo that is why I had to play in a safe manner so that a set batter doesnt get out If I had got out it would have been difficult for the lower order batters to hit boundariesFirst I decided to go hard in the last five overs but with Washy Washington Sundar getting out in the 45th over the message was to go hard in the last three overs When I hit a couple of sixes off Tickner in the 47th over I decided to go bigGill is starting to show the consistency that is expected from a rare talent like him and he is glad about thatConsistency is very important for me its the key to everything As a batter that is what I strive for in any format It feels good when things you are doing repeatedly are paying off said Gill whose father has been his primary coach since he took up the gameAfter a memorable double ton he spoke about his father and mentor Yuvraj SinghYuvi paaji has been a mentor to me like a big brother I keep discussing about my batting with him and my dad has been my primary coach since the beginning I am glad I could make them proudI didnt think ball hit the stumpsIndia allrounder Hardik Pandya was adjudged bowled but replays suggested the ball did not hit the stumps It could have been wicketkeeper Tom Lathams gloves that knocked the bails off but the third umpire ruled it in favor of the away team However Gill had his doubts on the dismissalAs a non striker batter I did not think the ball hit the stumps when I was watching the replay Sometimes there is a blind spot you cant really tell what happenedWith the bail falling towards the crease it is a bit weird and not falling towards the wicketkeeper But these bails are different they are heavy bails and in the end you have to go with the third umpire decision added GillThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever