Shubman Gill opened up on his batting mantra after scoring a sublime double-century in the first ODI against New Zealand to set up the foundation of India’s 12-run victory in Hyderabad.
On a batting surface where other Indian batters struggled to get going, Shubman stood tall and smashed 208 runs to help India register 349/8. He becomes the youngest male cricketer to slam a double century in ODIs. The batter showed great control and played risk-free shots as his 149-ball was laced with 19 fours and 9 sixes. He shared crucial partnerships with Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya to rebuild the Indian innings and then took the charge in the small but crucial partnerships with Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav.
The 23-year-old said he wanted to unleash on the bowlers earlier but the wickets kept falling from the other end however he was elated to finish the innings on a high.
“I was waiting eagerly to go out there and do what I wanted to do. I wanted to unleash but sometimes you don’t get to do it with wickets falling. I got to do it in the end,” Shubman said in the post-match presentation.
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He suggested that it’s important to put the bowlers under pressure and for that, he tries to avoid playing dot balls.
“Sometimes when the bowler is on top, you need to make them feel pressure. Need to avoid dot balls, show some intent, and hit hard into the gaps. Which is what I was doing,” he added.
He joined the elusive list of players to score a double century in the ODIs as earlier only Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan achieved the feat for India.
Also Read | 1st ODI: India Survive Michael Bracewell Carnage as Shubman Gill’s Double-ton Gives Them 1-0 Lead
Gill revealed that the sixes which he hit in the 47th over boosted his confidence to go for a double century.
“Wasn’t really thinking of 200, but once I hit sixes in the 47th over, I did feel that I could. Before that, I was playing what was coming to me,” he said.
Talking about his risk-free and free-flowing shot-marking, Shubman said it’s a nice feeling when he gets a good connection.
“I won’t call it a “wow” feeling but it feels nice when the ball goes off the bat how you want it. There’s certainly a feeling of satisfaction. It has sunk in pretty well, this is certainly one of those things, like what dreams are made of,” he asserted.
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