There were question marks on his hitting ability in T20Is, says Wasim Jaffer on Gill’s heroics against New Zealand Hailing Shubhman Gill for his heroics against New Zealand in the third and final T20, former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer has said that the youngster proved to the critics, who questioned his ability in T20 cricket, after his scintillating ton on Wednesday.
Gill continued his sizzling form in international cricket, scoring a brilliant unbeaten 126 in only 63 deliveries. His knock was laced with 12 fours and 7 sixes.
With the 23-year-old’s sensational century followed by a dominating bowling performance, India registered a massive 168-run win in the third and final T20I and clinched a 2-1 victory in the series over New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday.
Showering praise on the young batter while speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Jaffer said: “Shubman Gill beat New Zealand by 60 runs himself. He has come of age, surely, the way he has batted in the last couple of months in Tests and in ODIs. The T20 format was the only question mark over his ability and his strike rate.”
“There was no denying that he had kind of conquered Test cricket a little bit. In one-day cricket, he has made a spot of his own. In the T20s, there were question marks about his hitting ability. It just goes on to show how mature he has become over a period of a couple of months,” he added.
Gill’s maiden century in T20I is now the highest score for India in the shorter format of the game. The previous highest was Virat Kohli’s 122* against Afghanistan during last year’s Asia Cup in Dubai.
“What a knock it has been in a series decider. The last 76-78 runs, what magnificent hitting we have seen. We had never seen that. Probably in that double hundred, we saw a bit, but today was clean striking and absolutely brutal hitting from him.”
The youngster will next be seen in action in a four-match Test series against Australia, with the first Test scheduled to take place at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur from February 9.
–IANS
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