Till a few days back, Shubman Gill’s new hairdo was the most talked about aspect among his teammates.
It seemed the new style brought him luck following his red-ball struggles in Australia. A century in the three-match ODI series against England even zoomed him to the top of the ICC rankings.
On Thursday evening in Dubai, the opener showed that he is in the right spirit to make an impact and is ready to take on the responsibility.
The 25-year-old finished unbeaten on 101 against Bangladesh and guided India successfully in their chase of 229. He faced 129 balls, slamming nine fours and two sixes, as India won by six wickets with 21 balls to spare. One of his two sixes — a front-foot pull off Tanzim Hasan — went into the second tier of the stands at deep mid-wicket.
On a wicket where stroke-making wasn’t easy, Gill never struggled with his timing and placement. There was another stroke off Tanzim — an almost effortless flick for another six — in the closing stages of the match.
“The first one gave me confidence and the second took me closer to my first ICC event century, so both were very satisfying,” Gill said later.
With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s batting not enough to provide confidence, Gill’s form provides hope to the team. He is not one-dimensional and has an air of dominance to his batting which allows him to finish off games.
On Thursday, Rohit gave India the desired start in the Powerplay and it helped Gill to regain his own touch. The captain’s attacking style helped Gill to settle down. Once Rohit departed for 41 in the 10th over, Gill never allowed the momentum to slip despite the loss of a few quick wickets.
Rohit had labelled Gill as a “very, very classy player” at the pre-match news
conference and he repaid his captain’s faith. Vice-captain Gill’s eighth ODI hundred
was his slowest in the format but will rank right up there for the quality, control and application.
“When me and Rohitbhai went out there, we thought cutting the ball wasn’t easy because the balls which were outside the off-stump weren’t coming onto the bat that nicely. So I thought of using my feet to even the fast bowlers and tried to go over the circle,” Gill said after receiving the Man of the Match award.
“When the spinners came on, me and Viratbhai were talking in the middle that it’s not easy to score singles off the front foot, so we’ll try to score singles off the back foot. And it’s not easy to hit down the ground, so we just keep rotating the strike.”
The control and authority he showed was exemplary and also helped KL Rahul adjust to the conditions quickly. “Definitely one of my most satisfying innings that I have played,” Gill said.
At 25, Gill is a lot more mature than his age suggests and knows exactly when to attack and when to absorb the pressure. He likes to perform on the big stage and has never shied away from challenges.
He knows he needs to carry on his form into the Pakistan match on Sunday. Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has compared him to Kohli and thinks Gill is the right man to take the former India captain’s legacy forward.
“For the past three years, since Shubman Gill came to this Indian side, he has been trying to be the next Virat Kohli. He is trying to take that legacy forward,” Hafeez said.
“It was his eighth ODI hundred but it was one of his slowest centuries. But the thing that made me very happy was that he batted according to the situation. On this pitch the requirement was to absorb the pressure, to control the game,” he added.
Pakistan will be desperate to see him back early in the innings since his form isn’t a good omen to their chances of survival in the tournament.
