A double hundred against West Indies A helped Shubman Gill create a new record of Indian cricket. He became the youngest batsman to score a first-class double century breaking the record of Gautam Gambhir.
The story
Gill at the age of 19 years and 334 days he became the youngest batsman to score a first-class double century for an Indian representative side breaking the record of Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir had scored the same for India’s Board President XI’s team against Zimbabweans in a tour match in 2002 at the age of 20 years and 124 days.
After a top-order collapse, Gill focused on giving stability to his side. Captain Hanuma Vihari joined him and both went on to develop an unbeaten 315-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Vihari scored 118 runs from 219 deliveries, including 10 fours and one six. Gill started with his personal score of two and India A’s score on 23/3. Then he went on to score an unbeaten 204 with 19 fours and two maximums. India A eventually set a target of 373 for the hosts. At Stumps on Day 3, West Indies A were 37 for no loss and required 336 more runs to win the match.
Gill, the face of Indian cricket
Gill, after the first ball duck in the first innings of the Test, bounced back to play a steady inning facing 250 balls. His outstanding innings yet again raised the controversy over his exclusion in the senior team playing in West Indies. While MSK Prasad said that he had failed to utilize his opportunities well, the former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly criticized and questioned the selection committee for the same.
No matter, Gill is undoubtedly one of the brightest faces of Indian cricket in future. Indian selectors need to realize this at the soonest for the benefit of Indian cricket.
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