"shubman-gill"

By all means, it will be a huge challenge for Gujarat, which failed to qualify for the play-offs last season having just won five out of the 14 league games to finish eighth on the points table

"I used to throw balls to them during their practice sessions—some of my earliest IPL memories. I was extremely nervous, but I already knew about Sachin Sir. He was the reason I started playing cricket. My father is his biggest fan. While my dad was never into posters, we still had Sachin's posters in our village," Gill shared in a conversation with JioHotstar.

Rohit, who played a crucial knock of 76 off 83 balls in the final, climbed two spots to secure the third position. His stellar performance earned him the Player of the Match award. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli, who accumulated 218 runs in the tournament, retains his place in the top five, holding the fifth position.

It's also a nerve-settling victory for India ahead of their much-awaited clash against a more accomplished Pakistan at the same venue on February 23

Gill is sitting on top of the batting chart with 796 rating points. Babar drops to second place and 23 rating points behind the new No.1.

The Indian duo closed in on star Pakistan batter Babar Azam who maintained a narrow lead at the top of the chart

Gill's 102-ball 112 was the highlight but middle-order mainstays Kohli (52) and Shreyas Iyer (78) were also instrumental in pushing India to a formidable 356 in the first half after being put into bat

Gill anchored India's innings en route to his seventh ODI ton — 112 off 104 balls (14x4s, 3x6s) which also took his average past 60 in the format

Chasing a below 250 score, Gill anchored the innings, forging key partnerships with Iyer and Axar that became the backbone of India's chase

Gill added 95 runs on the third day to his overnight 7 to score 102 from 171 balls from which he struck 14 fours and three sixes

Smaran made an unbeaten 83 (100b, 12x4s, 1x6) as Karnataka reached 199 for 4 when stumps were drawn on Day 1

The top-order batter's last Ranji Trophy appearance for Punjab was in 2022, when he played against Madhya Pradesh in the quarter-finals in Alur

Under overcast skies, Starc trapped Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw with the very first delivery of the game to mark a riveting start of the day-night Test

Rishabh Pant and captain Rohit Sharma were on the crease at 4 and 1 respectively at the break after a mini collapse

Rohit, Gill and Ashwin return to the playing XI, replacing Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel and Washington Sundar

It was a 46-overs-a-side affair, which India won by chasing down an easy target of 241 in 42.5 overs, but they carried on batting till the end of the final over

While Rohit is expected to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul could come in at three pushing Gill to number 5

Gill scored a steady 90, while Pant blasted a quick-fire 60 off 60 balls, setting India up for a substantial lead. However, New Zealand bowlers kept striking at regular intervals, and India collapsed from 180/4 before lunch to 263 all out in 59.4 overs, securing just a 28-run lead. Washington Sundar contributed an unbeaten 38 off 36 balls, but India’s innings, which looked promising, crumbled as they lost six wickets for 83 runs.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill put together a half-century partnership for the second wicket, with Jaiswal surviving some tense moments to score 30 runs off 52 balls, including four boundaries. They added 53 runs together before Jaiswal was bowled by Ajaz Patel while attempting a reverse sweep. India's woes deepened when nightwatchman Mohammed Siraj was trapped LBW by Patel for a golden duck, followed by Virat Kohli's run-out for just four runs.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli struggled with the bat, while the formidable spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja also failed to make a significant impact