India's top-order batter Shubman Gill appeared in a pre-match press conference on Saturday before his side’s Super Four clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023.
Gill, 24, expressed his admiration for the Pakistani captain Babar Azam saying that he looks at any batter who is doing well in his team.
"If any player is doing well in any team, everyone looks up to them to know what is the reason behind them doing great. To know what their speciality is. We also look up to all these factors, and definitely, Babar Azam is a world-class player; we watch and admire him," Gill said.
Gill had his fair share of struggle against Pakistani pacers during their group-stage encounter.
The 24-year-old was finding it difficult to connect with the ball against the sheer pace of the Pakistani seamers and eventually ended up losing his wicket to Haris Rauf after scoring just 10 runs off 32 deliveries.
He praised Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah saying that both of them possess unique skills and are a challenge for every batter in the world.
"They are different kind of bowlers. Every bowler has their own area of expertise. I think both of them have separate expertise. Shaheen, as we have seen, mostly swings the ball. Naseem uses pace, and if he is getting help from the wicket, he sets the area accordingly.
"Both of them are different kind of bowlers who impart different challenges in different conditions and different situations on the opposition," he further added.
Gill is one of the very few batters in the world who have scored a century in all three formats and is considered a technical batter who can be explosive as well as calm according to the situation of the game.
It must be noted that the group-stage clash between Pakistan and India during the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 was washed out in Pallekele on September 2.
The highly-anticipated match on Sunday is also likely to be affected by rain.
