Shubman Gill, who on Wednesday became the youngest player to slam a double ton in ODIs, expressed he intended to put the New Zealand bowlers under pressure and it paid off. Gill played a brilliant knock of 208 off 149 deliveries including 19 boundaries and nine maximums to guide India to 349/8.
"I was waiting eagerly to go out and do what I want to do," Gill said while receiving the player-of-the-match award after India's nervy 12-run win over New Zealand in the series-opener.
Gill took 19 innings to complete 1000 runs in ODIs, the joint-second fastest to the feat alongside Imam-ul-Haq. Here's the list of the top 5 Indian players to score the fastest 1000 ODI runs:
- Shubman Gill - 19 innings, IND vs NZ (18th January 2023)
- Virat Kohli - 24 innings, IND vs SL (5th June 2010)
- Shikhar Dhawan - 24 innings, IND vs AUS (30th October 2013)
- Navjot Singh Sidhu - 25 innings, IND vs SL (22nd October 1989)
- Shreyas Iyer - 25 innings, IND vs WI (22nd July 2022)
Gill stepped up his innings brilliantly with his first 50 coming off 52 balls. He went from 50 to 100 off just 35 balls and again from 100 to 150 off just 35 balls. But it was his final flurry that saw the acceleration take off, with Gill going from 150 to 200 in just 23 balls, passing the double-century mark, thanks to three consecutive sixes.
"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 under pressure," Gill said about his strategy.
"I needed to avoid dot balls and show some intent and hit hard into the gaps which I was doing.
"I wasn't really thinking of 200, but once I hit sixes in the 47th over, I did feel that I could. Before that, I was playing what was coming to me."
At 23 years and 132 days, Gill is now the youngest player to score a double-hundred in men's ODIs. Here are the top 5 youngest players to achieve the feat.
- Shubman Gill (India) - 23 years 132 days
- Ishan Kishan (India) - 24 years 145 days
- Rohit Sharma (India) - 26 years 186 days
- Rohit Sharma (India) - 27 years 197 days
- Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan) - 28 years 101 days
"It (double ton) has sunk in pretty well. I won't call it a 'wow' feeling but it feels nice when the ball goes off the bat how you want it.
"There's certainly a feeling of satisfaction. This is certainly one of those things, like what dreams are made of," Gill said.
India skipper Rohit Sharma was also effusive in his praise for Gill.
"Watching Gill bat is fantastic, clean striking and no aerial shots.
We wanted to give him a run before the Sri Lanka series for the kind of form he was in. He is such a free-flowing batsman," Rohit said.
