Shubman Gill became just the fifth Indian batsman to record a century in each of the game’s three formats on February 1. His score of 126 not out off just 63 balls in the second T20I against New Zealand helped India win the series in Ahmedabad by a record-breaking 168 runs.
Cricket players and fans are praising the 23-year-old for his outstanding innings. As an all-format player, he is now being touted as the next Virat Kohli.
Although Gill’s talent was never in question, in recent weeks the right-hander from Punjab has made headlines for his impressive opening scores.
Gill achieved four centuries in seven innings between January 15 and February 1 in ODIs and T20Is, including a double hundred in the 50-over format.
He joined Suresh Raina, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli as the only Indians to record triple-figure scorers in all three formats with his most recent T20I century. The best individual score by an Indian in T20Is is his 126 not out.
This is what dreams are made of 💙🇮🇳🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/rD3n4aHvfz
— Shubman Gill (@ShubmanGill) January 19, 2023
With four hundred and a current ODI average of 73.76, Gill recently set a record for the quickest Indian to 1,000 runs in the format, doing it in only 19 innings.
Sunil Gavaskar, a batsman of legendary stature, has given Gill a new name: “Smoothman.”
After batting alongside Gill in Ahmedabad, India’s T20I captain Hardik Pandya declared that his career will reach “greater heights.”
“He will achieve greater heights in his career for sure because of not what he did today but because of his work ethic and the honesty towards his game,” Pandya told the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) website.
.@ShubmanGill scored a remarkable 126* off just 63 deliveries and bagged the Player of the Match award as #TeamIndia registered a 168-run victory in the #INDvNZ T20I series decider 👏🏻👏🏻
Scorecard – https://t.co/1uCKYafzzD… #INDvNZ @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/OhPzHbgxsK
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2023
Gill has as much potential as Kohli
Irfan Pathan, a former all-rounder for India, praised Gill as an all-format player and claimed he had an equal potential to Virat Kohli.
“I am a big fan of his because of the way he bats. As I keep saying, he can become an all-format player for you. This batter has just as much potential as Virat Kohli, who ruled all formats for many years. It’s another thing to convert that into performance, Pathan stated on Star Sports.
Shubman Gill has begun to achieve that, but that takes time. In August, he recorded his first century. All other players have only hit four international centuries as of the beginning of February. Whereas Gill has already reached a total of six centuries in international cricket.
Wasim Jaffer, another former Indian cricketer, had similar opinions.
“He is of legal age… There was no doubt that he had at least partially mastered One-Day and Test (cricket). India has found a superb talent, as shown by today’s knock. He can play in three different formats, and after Virat Kohli, he will be the next important batter to develop, according to Jaffer, who spoke to ESPNCricinfo.
Till now, Gill has represented India in six T20Is, 21 ODIs, and 13 Tests. In 2019, he made his international debut.
It is a gift to get the opportunity to play in all three forms, he added. Adding that he had always wanted to represent India.
Four-Test Series
Gill will be a member of the team for the first two series of India’s four-Test series against Australia that will begin on February 9 at home. Since Rohit Sharma, the captain, and KL Rahul are the openers, he may not make the Playing XI.
Given that Shreyas Iyer is yet to fully recover from his back injury. Gill might be placed into the middle order.
This one was special 💙🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/mgMoOKLATR
— Shubman Gill (@ShubmanGill) February 1, 2023
