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.

There has been intense speculation about Rohit's future, with a possible announcement linked to his decision to retire from the Twenty20 format after winning the World Cup in Barbados last June. The Champions Trophy final now presents another fitting moment for such an announcement.

Sunday's occasion is seen as a potential opportunity for him to retire from either ODIs or from international cricket altogether, given that the skipper has been struggling for runs in both formats he plays - Tests and ODIs.

However, Gill put an end to such speculation during the pre-final media conference at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. To avoid any misinterpretation or misreporting of his comments, Gill returned to the media room after the conference to clarify that he has no knowledge of Rohit having any such plans.

Gill also said that the Indian team has a fair idea of the conditions at the DICS even though the general talk in Dubai is about sudden change in the weather. With the mercury soaring in the daytime, there is 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. India won all their four matches at the ground in the competition.

The young opener also said he 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. In between there was a Twenty20 World Cup final but Gill was not part of the Indian contingent.

Gill also 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," he said.

"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."

He also said the experience of playing big games will help eventually. For instance, he reminded one, of Virat Kohli. "We saw Virat in the last match," he said. "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." Virat scored a match-winning 84 in the semifinal.

Gill has been short on runs in the last two games. After a blistering start in the tournament with a century in the first match against Bangladesh, followed by 46 against Pakistan in the second game, Gill was out rather cheaply in the next two encounters - for two against New Zealand and for eight versus Australia in the semifinal. On Saturday, 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.