Ahmedabad, February 12
India's flamboyant batter Shubman Gill flattened a couple of records with one of his "better knocks" against England in the third ODI in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
On the Ahmedabad venue where Gill has found the formula for success, the local hero blazed his way to his seventh ODI hundred, continuing his sublime run in the format.
Gill raced to his seventh ODI hundred in 95 deliveries and surpassed the likes of Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and others. In 50 ODI innings, no Indian has scored more ODI centuries than Gill.
With another century to his name, Gill has garnered a whopping 2,587 runs in his first 50 innings in the ODIs, the highest by any player. Before Gill, South Africa's icon Hashim Amla held his position at the summit with 2,486 ODI runs.
After a disappointing run in Australia, Gill found his groove and ended the three home ODIs on a high. Gill was pivotal to India's 3-0 series sweep over England. With 259 runs to his name in three innings at an average of 86.33, Gill was the leading run-getter across both teams.
For Gill, his record-shattering performance became more satisfying considering the seaming conditions that India faced early in the first innings.
"I was feeling good; this was one of my better knocks. The wicket was a bit tricky at the start, a bit for the fast bowlers, so it's satisfying. It was seaming, so the chat was simple, rotating the strike and not lose too many wickets in the powerplay, build on the momentum and take it from there," Gill said in the post-match presentation after winning the Player of the Match and the Player of the Series award.
With his 112-run knock, Gill fuelled India's batting unit, with Virat Kohli (52) and Shreyas Iyer (78) playing the supporting role in the first innings. With their vibrant strokeplay, India ended the first innings with a monumental total of 356.
In reply, England's openers were quick off the blocks, but the floodgates opener after Arshdeep Singh removed Philip Salt and Ben Duckett. England's intensity dropped, and the visitors eventually succumbed to a 142-run defeat.
- ANI