Shubman Gill was on fire for Team India against New Zealand in the first ODI of a three-match series on Wednesday (January 18). The 23-year-old right-handed batter faced a total of 149 deliveries to score 208 runs with the help of 19 fours and nine sixes. Gill is the fifth Indian and eighth batter overall to score a double century in ODI matches. He broke Ishan Kishan’s record to become the youngest batter to score a double century in a 50-over match. Gill’s inning was one of the finest knocks ever in ODI cricket, as he single-handedly helped India post a challenging total of 349 runs on the board.
After Gill’s 208, the second-highest score by an Indian batter in the series opener was 34, which was made by his opening partner and India captain Rohit Sharma. In that game, 10 of the 11 Indian batters got a chance to bat, but none of them, with the exception of right-handed batter Gill, were able to take the opposition bowlers on. And so, after his record-breaking show against the Black Caps, Team India players along with head coach Rahul Dravid hailed his knock.
Team India’s star batter and former captain Virat Kohli reserved high praise for him, saying, “I would call it outstanding, especially considering that the next-best score was not even 40. And the fact that he got a double hundred was a knock at a very, very high level. I think he was totally in his element today and showed why so many people have been saying so many great things about him for years, and I wish him all the best. I hope that he builds on this, and today was just a privilege to watch him bat. It was an outstanding knock.”
Whereas Dravid, who was also the head coach of Shubman’s U-19 team that won the 2018 World Cup, said, “Just achieving his potential. Many more to go.”
The century against New Zealand was Gill’s third triple-digit score for Team India in ODI matches and his second back-to-back. In the third and final ODI against Sri Lanka on Sunday (January 15), Gill scored 116 runs.
