Indian batsman Shubman Gill was a star in the final ODI against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. In addition to showing an amazing performance with his batting, Gill broke Virat Kohli’s record of the highest individual score by an Indian batter in T20Is.
Kohli’s record was an unbeaten 122 against Mohammad Nabi’s Afghanistan in the Asia Cup match back in September 2022 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. In addition to breaking the record, Gill is the fifth batter to have centuries for India in all cricket formats. The four other batters are Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli.
The player achieved the record with an unbeaten 126 off 63 balls with 12 fours and seven sixes. Gill took 35 balls to reach his half-century but got his next fifty runs in just 19 balls. Aside from achieving the T20I record, this score was the player’s maiden T20I hundred.
Before this match, Gill only scored 76 runs in his previous five T20s since making his debut last month against Sri Lanka. This year, he has a double century, three centuries, and a fifty in 12 innings.
That's a fine 50-run partnership between @ShubmanGill & @tripathirahul52 🙌🙌
Live – https://t.co/cBSCfiMLOa #INDvNZ @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/kXlSsaRVFH
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2023
Thanks to Gill’s performance at the bat, India posted 234/4 after they elected to bat first. Other than Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (24 off 13 balls with one four and two sixes) and Hardik Pandya (30 off 17 balls with four boundaries and a six) also scored needed runs in the match.
In addition to superb batters, the Indian bowlers had the Kiwis end at 66 in 12.1 overs for a 2-1 series win. With a win by 168 runs, India had achieved their biggest-ever victory in T20 internationals, and the largest margin by runs in a match played between two Test-playing nations.
Following this match and records, Gill is the youngest batter to have scored a century in each cricket format. He is also the sixth Indian man to score a T20I hundred. Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda, and Suryakumar Yadav are the other men to score hundreds in T20Is for the Men in Blue.
Gill will now be seen in action during an upcoming four-match Test series against Australia, with the first match starting on February 9.
In the aftermath of the match, Gill credited his performance to his dad:
“A lot of credit goes to my dad. I think in my game the most important thing is the backing of the team management and the captain. Before this game, in the T20I matches I played, I didn’t do well up to my expectations. I was very eager to go there and do what I love to do and you gave me that confidence, especially today before I went out. The way you just told me ‘ just play the way you play, no need to do anything extra.’ I think these small things, helps me a lot. I know that I have to play the way I have to play and I don’t have to do anything extra or anything that is not me. So that is one thing that helped me today,” he said.