Talismanic India batter Virat Kohli became a butt of jokes on social media after Shubman Gill broke a series of records during his maiden T20I hundred against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

 

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With his scintillating knock against the Black Caps in Gujarat, Shubman Gill became the youngest men’s cricketer to score hundreds in all three formats of the game. At 23 years and 146 days, he accomplished the feat against Kiwis in the third T20I.

He also joined a select band of Indian players who have made hundreds across all formats. Before him, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, and KL Rahul were the only Indians to reach the milestone.

Moreover, Gill is the youngest Indian batter to hit a T20I hundred, going past Suresh Raina’s previous mark, who achieved the landmark in 23 years and 156 days.

If this wasn’t enough, Shubman Gill added another feather to his cap as he leapfrogged Virat Kohli to have the highest score by an Indian in T20Is. The former India captain scored an excellent 122 off 61 balls against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in September last year.

The youngster was positive from the outset as he cracked boundaries early in his innings before clobbering Lockie Ferguson for 11 runs in an over.

Afterward, Shubman Gill went berserk as he began dealing in boundaries and sixes, but his all-out assault on the New Zealand bowlers only came after he completed his half-century. Later, Rahul Tripathi and Suryakumar Yadav perished after scoring 44 off 22 and 24 off 13 balls, leaving Gill to go ballistic in his attack.

Gill struck back-to-back sixes against Benjamin Lister before smashing two more maximums against Blair Tickner to cruise into the 90s. He brought up his maiden T20I century with a powerful cover drive off Lockie Ferguson and collected another 17 runs in the 19th over to take India past the 200-mark. The Men in Blue eventually finished with a mammoth total of 234/4.

Chasing a massive score, New Zealand never looked threatening during the run chase as they lost their openers in the first two overs and half their side inside the initial powerplay. Later, Hardik Pandya and his boys bowled them out for 66, registering their biggest victory in T20Is by a massive margin of 168 runs.

With Shubman Gill setting multiple records and going past a major Virat Kohli feat, the latter was brutally trolled on Twitter.

While some dubbed Shubman Gill to fill Virat Kohli's boots once he retired from the sport, others claimed that the former would break the Delhi-born cricketer's records in all formats.

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Meanwhile, former India allrounder Sanjay Bangar was in awe of Shubman Gill's batting. He praised the young batter for his sensational century before revealing the secret behind his success.

“He showed caution in the first part of the innings and then the brutal part, the second half of the innings, he had a tremendous mix of caution and aggression. He is not somebody who has believes in those fancy strokes. He has played cricketing shots, targeted straight of the ground or towards mid-wicket, square leg or covers. He has been brilliant to watch,” Sanjay Bangar told the host broadcaster Star Sports.

“This is the new generation. And the kind of power Shubman possesses, the positions that he gets in helps him score runs without even breaking a sweat. You are going to see a lot of him in the coming years,” he added.

Gill’s hundred came amid rising criticism of his play in T20Is, with 2011 World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir blasting him for his failures in the series’ previous two games against New Zealand. The Fazilka-born cricketer scored only seven off six balls and eleven off nine deliveries in Ranchi and Lucknow.

Moreover, with the explosive Prithvi Shaw warming the bench, Gautam Gambhir urged the Indian think tank, featuring captain Hardik Pandya and head coach Rahul Dravid to drop Shubman Gill from the XI in T20Is.

According to Gautam Gambhir, Shubman Gill’s natural game isn’t suited to T20s; hence, it would be more appropriate to try Prithvi Shaw in the format.

“I feel Shubman Gill has to get better against spin, on a spinning wicket. He had his struggles against Bangladesh as well. Yes, he has been fabulous in the 50-over format, got good wickets to bat on, with 5 fielders inside, But then, you’ve got to get better when the ball starts spinning, gripping and bouncing as well. He will get tested, not only against seam but spin as well,” Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports.

“He still hasn’t found his feet in T20 format, when it comes to playing international cricket. Sometimes you have to play at a different tempo. His basic game suits 50-over format. Someone like Prithvi Shaw, his basic instinctive game is made for T20 cricket. Shubman Gill is someone whose basic game is made for 50-over format. How quickly he learns and adapts to this format will decide whether he will be able to play all the three formats,” Gautam Gambhir asserted.

However, with his blistering knock against the Black Caps in Gujarat, Shubman Gill proved that he could perform in the sport's shortest format too.