Shubman Gill has set the cricketing world on fire with his brilliance in the limited-overs fixtures against New Zealand at home, playing a key role in India’s 3-0 and 2-1 series wins in the ODIs and T20Is respectively.
Gill on Wednesday became the fifth Indian to score a century across formats, smashing an unbeaten 126 off just 63 deliveries that helped the Men in Blue post a mammoth total on the board.
Not only did the knock further cement Gill’s place in the T20I top order and establish his credentials as an all-formats batter with the potential to smash more records going by his current form, he also made certain individuals eat their own words, individuals who had doubted his place in the shortest format.
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Among the naysayers is former India opener Aakash Chopra, who admitted wasn’t “100 percent certain” about the Gujarat Titans opener’s place in the T20I side, but has since undergone a change of opinion.
“I admit it, I say in front of everyone, there is nothing wrong. He has made such a big score now, it is fantastic. I eat my words, they are very, very bitte,” Chopra said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
Gill hit a roadblock of sorts in the first two T20Is in Ranchi and Lucknow after finishing the leading run-scorer in the ODI series by a country mile, getting dismissed for 7 and 11 respectively. The Punjab batter managed to steady the ship following Ishan Kishan’s early dismissal, forging a valuable second-wicket stand with Rahul Tripathi worth 80.
Also Read: Gill emerges as all-format batter and other takeaways from T20Is
He was batting on 46 off 30 balls at the halfway stage of the innings, but switched gears in the second half and tore the Kiwi attack to bits, collecting 80 runs off the next 33 deliveries.
Skipper Hardik Pandya then led with the ball after India posted a humongous 235 to win, snaring four wickets for 16 runs, ably supported by Umran Malik (2/9), Arshdeep Singh (2/16) and Shivam Mavi (2/12) as the Black Caps were bundled out for 66 runs to suffer a 168-run thrashing.
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