DUBAI: India vice-captain Shubman Gill has revealed which team will be under more pressure in the highly-anticipated match against Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
While addressing the pre-match conference, Gill highlighted the Dubai pitch conditions and said that the team batting second will be under more pressure in the marquee clash.
“Anything over 300 is a ‘very good’ total considering the conditions in Dubai, and with no dew around, the team batting second will be under more pressure.”
“Toss does not matter in Dubai. The dew is not setting in; if it were, it would have made a major difference,” said Gill.
India’s top-order batter also spoke about the Men in Blue’s approach for the highly-anticipated clash, emphasizing the need to play aggressively.
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“As a batter, you need to assess the conditions. Definitely, we need to play aggressive and positive cricket, but that depends on how the wicket plays. On these wickets, 260-280 is a good total.”
“On another wicket, we might look to get 320, 350-plus. We don’t have any particular target. But, we try to get 15–30 runs more than par total on any pitch,” he remarked.
Shubman Gill also spoke about the India-Pakistan rivalry, not considering Pakistan a lesser opponent.
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“India vs Pakistan is big, but Champions Trophy final is the bigger match. We have been playing good cricket but we will not take Pakistan as a lesser side.”
For those unaware, the hosts and defending champions Pakistan did not have the best of starts after losing against New Zealand by 60 runs in the Champions Trophy 2025 opening game.
On the other hand, India opened its campaign by securing a comfortable victory against Bangladesh, courtesy of Shubman Gill’s blistering century.
READ: Champions Trophy: Aqib Javed opens up on Pakistan’s likely playing XI for India clash