Will Shubman Gill stamp his authority in ODI cricket?
Indian top-order batter Shubman Gill slammed his maiden century in 50-over cricket during the third ODI against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. The youngster registered three 50+ scores in his last four ODI innings. Gill, who carries a sound technique, could go the distance in this format. He has even opened alongside Rohit Sharma in Test cricket. Here, we decode his stats.
Why does this story matter?
Young Gill turned out to be Team India's find of the series during the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He was handed his debut in the Boxing Day Test after Prithvi Shaw got dropped due to poor technique. On the contrary, Gill's technique in each of the three Tests completely stood out. The 22-year-old has fluttered around the Indian Test and ODI sides ever since.
Gill played a defiant knock against Zimbabwe
In the third ODI against Zimbabwe, Gill came to the crease after skipper KL Rahul departed. The former was watchful at the start before Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed. He then propelled the Indian innings along with Ishan Kishan. Gill brought up his century in the 44th over with a single. He had a strike rate of 121.9 at the time of his century.
Feats attained by Shubman
Gill held one end even though he lost partners. The top-order batter finished with 130 off 97 balls (15 fours and 1 six). He became the 18th Indian batter to slam an ODI century against Zimbabwe. Gill now has the second-highest score by an Indian batter in Zimbabwe in the format. He is only behind VVS Laxman (140) in this regard.
Gill averages 71.28 in ODI cricket
Gill has been on a roll in ODI cricket. He has raced to 499 runs in the format from nine ODIs. Gill averages an incredible 71.28, having registered three fifties besides a century. He has recorded four scores of 50 or more in his last six ODIs. His scores in the period read as 130, 33, 82*, 98*, 43, and 64.
Second consecutive PoS award
Gill picked his second consecutive Player of the Series award in Zimbabwe after faring well against the West Indies. He averaged over 100 in each of the two ODI series (Zimbabwe: 122.50 and West Indies: 102.50).
Why is Gill a special talent in ODIs?
Gill is one of the few batters among the fresh Indian crop who promotes the art of rotating the strike. This has been the nucleus of his batting so far. His knock against Zimbabwe is a testament to this fact. Gill minimizes the dot-ball percentage and tries to pick the gaps. Interestingly, his strike rate in the middle overs is 112.22 (ODIs).
ICC ODI Rankings: Gill enters top 50
After scoring a century against Zimbabwe, Gill entered the top 50 in the men's ICC ODI Batting Rankings. The right-handed batter jumped 45 places to 38th in the rankings. Gill is among the top five Indian batters in the ICC ODI Rankings for batters - Virat Kohli (fifth), Rohit Sharma (sixth), Shikhar Dhawan (12th), KL Rahul (35th), and Gill (38th).
