Babar Azam is a world-class player and we all admire him: Shubman Gill

Indian opener Shubman Gill heaped praise on Pakistan skipper Babar Azam ahead of the India vs Pakistan clash in Colombo in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2023 on Sunday, September 10.

While Babar has been a quality batter across formats, he is arguably one of the greatest of the modern generation when it comes to the ODIs, having already smashed 19 hundreds in just over a hundred appearances. Gill revealed that youngsters like himself do look up to Babar and admire his consistency.

Here's what Shubman Gill told reporters about Babar Azam in a pre-match press conference:

"Yes, we definitely follow him. When a player is doing well, everyone watches him to find out why they are doing so well, what their speciality is. The same thing goes for Babar. He is a world-class player and we all do admire him."

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Shubman Gill on playing left-arm seamers

There has been a lot of talk about Indian top order facing issues against left-arm pacers and the same was visible when the Men in Blue faced Pakistan in Pallekele last Saturday and struggled against Shaheen Afridi.

However, Shubman Gill claimed that they do put in the hard yards in practice and explained why playing it becomes a different challenge while facing Pakistan. He stated:

"When you are playing at this level, you play left-armer pacers previously at some point in your career. We do not play Pakistan that much as compared to the other sides. They have a quality bowling attack. When you do not face such a bowling attack frequently and are not used to it, it makes a difference."

Pakistan have already named their XI for the clash against India and this time, have an extra seam option in Faheem Ashraf. They have probably realized from the group game against India that they need a fourth seamer.