This knock means a lot: Gill

Double centurion says consistency is key and he will strive for it

Hyderabad: When Shubman Gill made his debut in international cricket, aficionados rated him very high and as a rare talent. Proving his talent, Gill smashed a scintillating double century in the first ODI against New Zealand at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

This was his second successive century on the trot. He had hit a century in the third ODI against Sri Lanka as well. But everyone got to see at the Uppal stadium was his range of strokes and his capability to accelerate at the death. He had hit seven sixes from 150 to 200 that took India to 349/8.

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Speaking after his maiden double century, making him the only fifth Indian to do so, the 23-year-old said the feat means a lot to him. “This knock means a lot to me. I could not convert in the first ODI and third game (against Sri Lanka), I was looking to get a big score but it didn’t happen. Once I was set, the focus was to score as many runs as possible,” he said after the hosts’ nervy 12-run victory.

“With the extra fielder inside the circle in the middle overs, we see the other teams pushing in the middle overs. Even when wickets were falling, I wanted to show intent to the bowlers because it’s very easy to bowl dot balls if the batter is not showing intent,” he explained.

He also wants to be consistent in all formats to achieve success. “Consistency is very important for me. It is the key to everything. As a batter that is what I strive for in any format. It feels good when things you are doing repeatedly are paying off.”

Gill also revealed that he wanted to go on attack mode early but the loss of wickets at the other end made him change his plans. “My intent was to keep scoring even when the wickets were falling. First I decided to go hard in the last five overs but with Washy (Washington Sundar) getting out in the 45th over, the message was to go hard in the last three overs. When I hit a couple of sixes, I decided to go big.”

He also felt that Hardik Pandya’s dismissal was bizarre. “As a non-striker batter I did not think the ball hit the stumps when I was watching the replay. Sometimes there is a blind spot where you can’t really tell what happened. With the bail falling towards the crease, it is a bit weird. But these bails are different, they are heavy bails and in the end you have to go with the third umpire decision,” added Gill.

Meanwhile, Michael Bracewell, whose counter-attacking 140 off 78 balls almost took New Zealand home, said that plan with Mitchell Santer was to take the match deep. “The bowlers did well in that period (after he got his century) with their yorkers. Credit to them. We were just trying to give ourselves a chance, we managed to get a partnership but unfortunately it wasn’t enough which is a bit of a bummer really,” he said.