IT was the only time Shubman Gill uncrossed his arms in the 10 or so minutes he stood addressing the media on the Matilda Bay waterfront.
And it came at the very end of his press conference on the eve of the first ODI. After having spent all that while with his hands tightly folded across his chest, he let them drop before casually slipping them into his pockets. It was also the first time on Saturday afternoon that the new India 50-over captain was asked about his own batting.
Till that point, most of the questions had somewhat and somehow gravitated back to Gill’s immediate two predecessors. Both of whom, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, will be playing their first match for India in over eight months on Sunday. Both of whom have now retired from all other formats.
This is not to suggest that Gill’s body language meant he was holding back in any way when it came to talking about Rohit and Kohli. Whether it was him raving about the privilege of captaining two of the most successful ODI cricketers of all time. Or getting to pick their brains as leaders in the lead-up to his first go at leading an Indian team in this format.
But it just was too obvious not to mention how much more relaxed he seemed to be when Gill did get the opportunity to talk about Shubman Gill.

In a way it seemed apt too. This is officially the start of a new era for India in ODI cricket. But whether it’s in the way the series has been promoted or the way it’s been sold, the overwhelming narrative has surrounded the two modern-day behemoths of Indian cricket.
Almost to the extent that it’s overshadowed most other storylines going into the opening game, across both dressing-rooms for that matter. You are after all talking about the most prolific century-maker in ODI history and another giant of the format, who’s scored three ODI double hundreds for good measure.
And with the next 50-over World Cup still two years away, the overall relevance of this three-match series does not match up with the five T20Is that will follow right after. Considering how close we are to the next World Cup in the shortest format.
More reason for the focus to likely remain entrenched on Kohli and Rohit over the next week or so. From picking up signs as to whether they could push on till 2027 or even getting used to seeing them in India colours again after what seems like a lengthy break, especially when you consider how significantly the duo have in large ways defined the last 15 years of Indian cricket.
Probable XI: Travis Head, Mitch Marsh (c), Matt Renshaw, Matt Short, Mitch Owen, Josh Philippe (wk), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh/Prasidh Krishna. (Cricbuzz)