Indian opener Shubman Gill was on cloud nine after he scored a magnum opus of 208 runs off just 149 balls in the first ODI against New Zealand at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Wednesday. Gill became the youngest to breach the 200-run mark and became the fifth Indian batter after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan to get to the milestone.
The right-hander continued his dream form as he scored his back-to-back hundred. The youngster unleashed sublime pull shots and drives through the off-side and kept scoring at a brisk pace.
Meanwhile, not long ago, Ishan Kishan scored a magnificent knock of 210 runs against Bangladesh in the third ODI. However, India’s think tank backed Shubman Gill as an opener in the ODI series against Sri Lanka and Kishan could not get his chance. Gill revealed it’s great to join Kishan in the 200-run club and he has a great bonhomie with the wicket-keeper bat.
“Yeah, it’s amazing,” Gill said about joining Kishan in the 200-club. “He’s one of my best mates in the team and it’s amazing to be able to spend time with him. I was there when he scored his double hundred and it felt amazing.”
Gill smashed a total of nine sixes in his blistering knock with the last three coming off against Lockie Ferguson in the penultimate over to help him bring up his double century.
“I was waiting very eagerly to, you know, go out there and do what I want to do,” Gill said. “And with the wickets falling, you know, there were times when I wanted to unleash. But I got my moment when we had the last three or four overs left and I wanted to get some sixes under my belt and I’m happy that it paid off today.”
Gill also revealed he tried to get on top of the bowler whenever India lost a wicket to dictate terms on his own.
“Yeah,” he said. ” Sometimes when the bowler is on top, you have to get them under pressure. Because if they are not feeling any kind of pressure, it’s easier for them to create more dot balls. So that was my plan, you know, when the bowler is trying to get on top of me, just try to hit the gap, hit it hard, show some intent to the bowler. “I wouldn’t say it (hitting the big shots) was a wow feeling but it feels nice when, you know, you’re wanting to do something, when you’re wanting to hit the gaps, when you’re wanting to hit the sixes, and it’s coming off on a regular basis. There’s definitely some kind of satisfaction in that.”
Meanwhile, Michael Bracewell almost pulled a rabbit out of the hat for the Kiwis with his knock of 140 runs but Shardul Thakur kept his nerves in the final over when 20 were required.
“I mean (the double ton) sunk in pretty well, you know, when Bracewell started hitting those sixes,” Shubham said with a smile, “and the game went closer than what I expected. But yeah, this is definitely, you know, one of those things. This is what dreams are made of.”
India and New Zealand will play the second ODI in Raipur on Saturday.
