Shubman Gill is coming into this own. For people who watched his century on Wednesday, picking out his best stroke would be an arduous task. That is why Gill is special: his effortless pick-up shots, his elegant drives through covers, and his lofted hits down the ground make him unique.
He became the youngest centurion for India in T20Is when he creamed a match-winning ton against New Zealand in the deciding T20I in Ahmedabad. The 80,000-odd people at the Narendra Modi Stadium forgot there were chairs to sit out – Gill forced them to stand up and applaud right through his 20-overs stay.
One of the high-profile people present in the stands was Valiant Brand Ambassador Vipul Narigara and he too was left with nothing but awe for the young Shubman Gill. Narigara called Gill a ‘future Indian captain’ and was thrilled to see his performance at his home ground. Incidentally, Gill will turn out for the Gujarat Titans and will be the adopted son of Gujarat at this stadium.
Now, Vipul Narigara, a avid cricket fan and a cricketer of note himself, had predicted on his Facebook page before the match that India would dominate this match and that Gill would spread his magic. His words could not have been truer as both these predictions were absolutely spot on.
Gill goes on to smash an unbeaten 126 off 63 balls in the series decider in Ahmedabad. Although, the right-hander took his time in the middle order, Rahul Tripathi raced ahead and then Suryakumar Yadav too continued with the momentum. India were at 125 for 3 in the 13th over.
Gill then took over and clobbered sixes for as he flew from a 50-to-100 in just 19 balls. Gill and Pandya added 103 in just 40 balls as India powered on to score 234.
It was always going to be a tough ask for New Zealand, but the Indian seamers shut the door in the powerplay and took away any hope of any fight. Pandya got rid of Finn Allen in the first over and then Arshdeep Singh was excellent in the second over when he dismissed Devon Conway and Mark Chapman.
