India Vice-Captain Shubman Gill Shares Strategy Ahead Of Pakistan Champions Trophy Game

India vice-captain Shubman Gill on Saturday said the lack of dew in Dubai has made chasing a trickier proposition and his team would prefer putting runs on the board in the high-stakes game against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy in Dubai. Though India have dominated Pakistan in world events and also in the recent past, the match generates plenty of hype. Gill is well aware of the build-up created by fans on either side of the border but it doesn't change anything for him and his team.

"It's not for me to say whether India-Pakistan contest is under-hyped or over-hyped. There is a long history of India-Pakistan cricket. It is a very exciting contest but it doesn't change anything for us.

"It is an important but the most important match will be the final," Gill told reporters on the eve of the game.

Dew played a big role when the T20 World Cup was held in the UAE and Gill said it impacts the game even more in the ODI format. However, the lack of dew here has made batting tougher under lights on what is a challenging surface anyway.

"In the last match, dew was not there. When dew is not there, it is not that easy to bat (under lights) and it is not that easy to rotate strike as well. Whoever does well in middle overs has a better chance of winning. With lack of dew, toss also doesn't play a big role.

"But, for any team - in any big match, if we don't get dew then the team that is batting later will have more pressure," said the stylish opener.

Given the conditions, Gill reckons anything in excess of 300 will be a very good score here.

"Definitely we want to play aggressive and positive cricket but that also depends on the surface. Score would be different on every wicket that we play. So 300 on this wicket or 280 would be