From despair to ecstasy: Rahul Dravid's personalised coaching brings reward for Shubman

IND vs AUS 1st ODI: Indian opener Shubman Gill is having a stellar 2023 and he doesn't seem to stop anytime soon. The series opener witnessed several interesting moments in the first innings including a few stunning catches by the Men In Blue. KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, and Shubman Gill were among the few Indian players to pull off an athletic show on the field and helped the Indian bowlers to restrict Australian batsmen from scoring heavily. Among the aforementioned players, Shubman Gill grabbed most headlines for first dropping a catch and making a spectacular comeback by taking a stunner.

After Cameron Green was bowled out by Mohammed Shami in the 30th over, the pacer provided another wicket-taking opportunity in the very next ball. As he bowled a length ball in the channel, Stoinis pushed at it but ended up getting an edge that went toward the right of Gill at the first slip. Although he managed to put both his hands, he couldn’t hold on to them as Stoinis survived.'

IND vs AUS 1st ODI: Shubman Gill takes two breathtaking catches after dropping one

Few balls later, Stoinis was dismissed by Shami in the 32nd over as Gill took a stunner this time. The Aussie all-rounder ended up edging the ball and it went to Gill’s left, who put in a full length dive to held on to it with both hands. This was the third wicket of the match for Shami in his sixth over. 

here, to watch Shubman Gill's catch to dismiss Marcus Stoinis.

Rahul Dravid's specialized fielding practice pays off for Shubman Gill

Meanwhile, in the 34th over, Gill took another flying catch at the slips to dismiss Sean Abbott. The 23-year-old athletic fielding effort comes after his specialized fielding training with the Indian head coach Rahul Dravid. In a video shared by BCCI earlier in the day, Dravid can be seen helping Gill with slip-catching practice.

What else happened in the first innings of the India vs Australia 1st ODI?

Abbott's dismissal reduced the Aussies to 188/9 om 33.4 overs, as the visitors crumbled from 169/4 in 27.4 overs to 188/10 in 35.4 overs. Shami pulled off the best bowling show with figures of 3/17 in six overs, while Mohammed Siraj took 3/29 in 5.4 overs. Ravindra Jadeja too contributed with two wickets, Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya took a wicket each. The series opener is being played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.