Shubman Gill is the year’s highest run-scorer across formats and in ODIs [till the ICC ODI Men’s World Cup]. Image: Mexy Xavier
We had first met Shubman Gill a few days after he returned from the Australia tour in 2021, where his innings of 91 in the final Test at Gabba had helped India, hobbled with injuries, seal a historic series victory. Gill, of course, had caught the eye well before—with a fluent 45 in his debut innings in the second Test, after India were ignominiously bundled out for 36 in the first—but the innings at Gabba, with his gorgeous strokeplay and poise on display at 21, had anointed him as the next big thing in world cricket.
Gill himself seemed a tad bit disappointed with his effort that was drawing plaudits all around. “I am really, really disappointed at missing the century,” he had said. “When I reached 90, I felt my heart rate go up… my plan was to call for drinks at the end of the over to calm myself down. But I got out [on the last ball of that over].”
Two years on, if there’s one thing that Gill has learnt, it’s how to tame those butterflies. The 90s aren’t nervous anymore, and the centuries are flowing. On loop.
Just in this calendar year, Gill has scored seven centuries across all formats, including a double in ODIs. Four of those came within a fortnight. During the year, he became the quickest to score 2,000 runs in the ODIs, in 38 innings, eclipsing South African Hashim Amla’s record by two innings.