India’s vice-captain Shubman Gill on Tuesday defended their performance in the Test rubber loss in Australia, saying that one poor series does not define a team and that it is unfair to criticise a side after a rare bad outing. India suffered a 1-3 defeat in the five-match series in Australia, bringing to an end their decade-long dominance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Gill also spoke on being made vice-captain, and how he could influence the leadership group of the team. Key players such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Gill himself are now set to return for the three-match ODI series against England before heading to Dubai for the all-important ICC Champions Trophy.

Gill has been made a part of the leadership group, and on taking up the additional responsibility of being a vice-captain, he said “I take it as a challenge to lead my way, firstly with my performance and then definitely in the field if Rohit bhai would want my opinions. It’s my duty to let him know what my thoughts are.”

“One series does not define the form of the whole team. There are a lot of players who, in the past, have performed consistently in a lot of series and tournaments,” Gill told reporters here ahead of the first ODI against England.

“Definitely, we did not play as per our expectations in the Australian series, but still we played some good cricket. We were unfortunate not to have (Jasprit) Bumrah on the last day and we would have won the match and the series would have been a draw and this talk wouldn’t have happened.

“One match and one day doesn’t define us, we won there twice before and earlier won a World Cup and then reached the final of a World Cup, so we should keep all those things in mind.” Before the reverse in Australia, India were also whitewashed 3-0 by New Zealand at home, unprecedented in the country’s cricket history.

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