‘Finally’ is the one word which everyone has been saying since Shubman Gill laced into a Victor Nyauchi delivery and punched it to deep cover for single. For that single brought up the 22-year-old’s maiden ODI and international hundred – in the third ODI vs Zimbabwe on Monday in Harare.
It was a big relief for Gill and his fans and supporters – many of whom are even the current and former Indian players – that the youngster have managed to cross the three-figure hurdle and break the barrier which had eluded him for a while.
Yuvraj Singh predicts Shubman Gill to score more centuries
Gill had got scores of 64, 43 and 98* in the West Indies (he had then missed his century by only 2 runs due to rain) and 82* in Zimbabwe. Today, though, Gill made sure that nothing could stop him from going past the three-figure mark; and the beaming smile on his face upon raising his bat and helmet to the dressing room reflected his happiness and satisfaction and relief.
There was a flood of reactions on Twitter congratulating and hailing the young batter on his landmark occasion.
One special congratulatory tweet came from legendary India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who predicted that this is just the start for Gill and that many more centuries will come in what is expected to be a long and successful international career.
“Finally!!! Well played @ShubmanGill u seriously deserved that Ton ! Congratulations on your first 
many more to come this is just a start,” Yuvraj Singh tweeted.
Here, check out what Yuvraj Singh tweeted:
Finally!!! Well played @ShubmanGill u seriously deserved that Ton ! Congratulations on your first
many more to come this is just a start
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) August 22, 2022
Shubman Gill had come in to bat at number 3 after Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul had got India off to a slow start with their 63-run opening stand from 91 balls. He soon saw Dhawan also get out and then began to forge a partnership with Ishan Kishan.
The two youngsters didn’t held back and played their shots with freedom in their big stand of 140 runs which was built in 127 balls. Kishan’s wicket, on 50, was followed by that of Deepak Hooda.
Gill, on the other end, was pristine in his timing though, and he sent the bad balls to the boundary while on others rotated the strike regularly to increase the run rate. He was eventually dismissed for 130 runs off 97 balls, his knock including 15 sweetly-timed fours and one disdainfully hit six. Gill’s century helped India post a total of 289.
