Young Indian opener Shubman Gill stole the show with the bat in the 1st ODI match against New Zealand as he played a powerful knock. Gill smashed the Kiwi bowlers to all the corners of the ground and became the 5th Indian batter to register a double-century in the ODI format of the game. Playing a sensational knock, Gill joined the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan in the elite list of Indian batsmen to hit a double-century in ODIs.
The Punjab-born batter smashed sensational 208 runs off 149 balls, including 19 boundaries and 9 maximums. Interestingly, no other Indian batter could even reach the 50 mark. His knock helped India post a gigantic 349/8 on the board after opting to bat first. With this knock, Gill has also made his case much stronger for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023.
Gill has been receiving praise from all corners of the world. Several cricketers and experts took to their social media and hailed the brilliance of the young opener. Indian captain Rohit Sharma was also full of praise for the young talent.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, Rohit Sharma showered praise on Shubman Gill for his brilliant performance. He said:
“He (Gill) is going really well. The form he was in, we wanted to make use of it and that’s why we backed him in the SL series. Free-flowing batter and it’s quite exciting to watch. “
Meanwhile, during the post-match presentation, Shubman Gill was also asked about his record-breaking performance. Talking about the same, he said: “I was waiting eagerly to go out and do what I want to do. With wickets falling, at times I wanted to unleash and I’m glad I could do it at the end. Sometimes when the bowler is on top, you need to make them feel pressure. Need to avoid dot balls, show some intent and hit hard into the gaps. Which is what I was doing.”
