An avalanche of memes hit Twitter following India batter Shubman Gill's history-making double hundred against New Zealand in the first ODI in Hyderabad.

 

On Wednesday, Shubman Gill became the youngest player to hit a double hundred in One-Day Internationals (ODIs). The Punjab-born cricket star's feat came against New Zealand in Hyderabad in the first ODI of the three-match series after he played a stunning knock, scoring 208 runs off just 149 balls to help India post a mammoth total of 349/5 on the board.

Previously, the record was held by Ishan Kishan who had smashed a double century at the age of 24 years and 145 days against Bangladesh last month.

But Shubman Gill, at 23 years and 132 days, has now made the record his own after his latest heroics against the Kiwis in the Telangana capital.

Youngest to score 200 in an ODIs

23y 132d Shubman Gill vs NZ Hyderabad 2023

24y 145d Ishan Kishan vs Ban Chattogram 2022

26y 186d Rohit Sharma vs Aus Bengaluru 2013

In addition to that Shubman Gill also joined a select band of cricketers who have scored a double ton in the 50-over format. He's the eighth batter overall to reach a score of 200 in ODIs.

Before him, the seven men who accomplished the feat are India captain Rohit Sharma, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, former explosive opener Virender Sehwag, New Zealand's Martin Guptill, West Indies icon Chris Gayle, Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman and his teammate Ishan Kishan.

He's the fifth Indian to achieve the milestone after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan.

Gill is the first player to slam a double hundred against New Zealand. The previous record for the highest individual score against New Zealand was held by Sachin Tendulkar who made an unbeaten 186 against the Black Caps in the same city in 1999.

Highest individual score against New Zealand in ODIs

208 Shubman Gill Hyderabad 2023

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186* S Tendulkar Hyderabad 1999

181* M Hayden Hamilton 2007

169* D Callaghan Centurion 1994

Among other records, the Fazilka-born cricketer broke Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan's records to become the quickest Indian to thousand runs in ODIs.

Shubman Gill with his hundred at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, made it to the landmark in 19 matches while both Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan needed 24 games to reach there.

Pakistan's Fakhar Zaman, however, tops the list of batters who have completed 1,000 runs in the least number of innings. The Pakistan opener did it in only 18 knocks.

Shubman Gill though isn't too far behind, having attained a thousand runs in 19 matches. He's the joint second fastest to get there alongside another Pakistani Imam-ul-Haq.

From the outset, Shubman Gill looked in complete control of the proceedings on the ground after he came out to bat at the top of the order with skipper Rohit Sharma.

It was a stunning knock from Shubman Gill, to say the least because all other Indian batters failed in getting accustomed to the wicket. But the youngster had no trouble whatsoever in taking the New Zealand bowlers on, smashing fours and sixes at will throughout his record-breaking knock.

While wickets kept falling around him, Gill never dropped his guard and continued to play ultra-aggressive cricket. He was particularly severe on New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner, who could have been the dangerman for India in helpful conditions.

Shubman Gill though never allowed him to get into any sort of rhythm as he used his feet to good effect against him, taking the aerial route to clobber a couple of boundaries off his bowling.

As he maintained an aggressive posture during the entire duration of his innings, Shubman Gill brought up his hundred in 87 balls before coasting to 150 in 122 deliveries. Subsequently, his double century came in 145 balls.

He was audacious in his shot-making at the fag end of the Indian innings as he smacked three consecutive sixes to bring up his 200.

Gill's knock was best described by ESPNcricinfo's commentary team.

“Shubman Gill is the man of the moment (so far)! He got to 1000 ODI runs today and went on to make it a superb double-century which single-handedly gave India this strong total. No other India batter crossed 35. Whether it was his opening stand with Rohit or the death overs, Gill's pull dominated the day against New Zealand. The pitch is not completely flat, it's stopping a bit and turning at times too, but whenever the bowlers changed the pace Gill picked them all to perfection,” one of the commentators on the website wrote.

“First 50 off 52 balls, a century off 87 balls, 100-150 in 35 balls, and the 150 to 200 in just 23 balls. Most importantly, the acceleration came when he was starting to run out of partners and the boundaries were drying up after the 40th over. His back-to-back sixes in the end off Ferguson got him to his 200 and India to nearly 350,” the cricket publication added.