Shubman Gill’s 208 brings back memories of Tendulkar, sort of

Back in March of 2002, the New Zealand batsman Nathan Astle tore into England’s bowling during a Test match at Wellington’s erstwhile Jade Stadium in an innings of rare ferocity. Astle had achieved success in the five-format as well as in ODI cricket, as a reliable middle-order batsman capable of the occasional sparkling innings, but it was unprecedented that a batsman of his reputation would hammer what stands, to date, as the fastest double-hundred in Test cricket. Never mind that Astle’s astonishing 222 from 168 balls, came in the same Test in which England’s dour Graham Thorpe smashed 200* off 231 balls and a mere three weeks after Adam Gilchrist blazed himself into the record books with 204* off 212 against South Africa. You just didn’t envision Astle going berserk against England. Little he had done before in his cricketing career had suggested that Astle was capable of such batting.

Similarly, few watchers of cricket could have pegged India’s Shubman Gill to smack his way to a double-hundred in ODIs at a strike-rate of 139.59, with 19 fours and nine sixes. This is not a slight on the skills of arguably the most skilled three-format player of India’s young generation. Gill, supreme when driving on the rise or clipping through midwicket, had not produced anything as brutal in his career so far. Talented? Check. One for the future? Check. But capable of bruising the top-ranked ODI team’s bowlers to the tune of 208 off 149 balls? That was not expected.

And yet there was Gill, displaying his vast repertoire of shots on Wednesday in Hyderabad as he became the fastest Indian batsman to 1000 runs in ODIs and the second batsman for any team to get to 200 in an innings in which no other got to 50. This was a sublime display of, first, calculate and remorseless run accumulation and then, to the surprise of many, fierce yet clean hitting at the death.

This writer the opportunity to speak to Gill in 2022, and during the course of that in-depth interview the 23-year-old spoke of the impact that Sachin Tendulkar’s batting had on him as a child. Gill’s innings versus New Zealand was one that Tendulkar would be proud of, for it had shades of the master in his pomp: classy and calculated, fierce but not ugly. Such a masterful double-hundred in the times of T20 stood out for its class and control, because hardly did Gill slog at the ball. It bore the Tendulkar stamp in many ways.

This was batting of a high class, and from a batsman in control of his game. Having the team’s confidence plays a big role in this. Before the start of the recent ODI series with Sri Lanka, Rohit Sharma said that as tough a decision as it was to bench Kishan after his barnstorming 210 in Bangladesh – the fastest men’s ODI double-century – the management wanted to give Gill a longer rope given his success in the format last year. Indeed, scoring 638 runs at an average of 70.88 and a strike-rate of 102.57, with one century and four half-centuries, merits further selection.

But if there was one doubt over Gill’s credentials when he was confirmed as India’s opener for the Sri Lanka ODIs, it was whether he could do what his skipper Rohit, the owner of three double-centuries in his prime, and the free-stroking Ishan Kishan did in crossing the 200-mark in an ODI versus Bangladesh not long ago, which stands as the fastest double in the format. Any such doubts were dispelled by Gill’s spectacular assault on New Zealand’s bowlers on Wednesday.

Heading into the final ten overs of India’s innings in Hyderabad, Gill was 134 from 113 deliveries. A double-century was there for the taking, but social media appeared more preoccupied with whether he could match Virat Kohli’s 166* from the previous ODI. Gill crossed the 150 mark with a six off Michael Bracewell’s offspin during the 43^rd over, but then did not find the boundary until the 48^th over, by which time India had lost two more wickets. You wondered whether he could get to 200, given he was 169 when the 48^th over bowled by pacer Blair Tickner began.

Five balls later, Gill was on 182 having smacked Tickner for sixes over long-on and square leg. A single off Tickner’s last delivery gave Gill strike, against one of the fastest bowlers going around, Lockie Ferguson. Twelve balls left in the innings, and Gill needed 18 for a rare achievement. He needed just three to get to 200, pummeling Ferguson for three sixes in a row over fine leg, long-off and back past the bowler’s head. It was mesmeric. You don’t get many chances to score 200 in an ODI innings, and here Gill smashed Ferguson for three successive sixes to three different parts of the ground.

Gill’s frenzied release of emotion after his hat-trick of sixes took him to 200 was the fiercest he had been all day. It spoke volumes of what the moment meant to him, naturally, but also of how controlled he been during his awesome effort.

And to think, it was hardly 24 hours before this match that people were wondering whether Gill, who scored 70, 21 and 116 in three ODIs against Sri Lanka, would have to make way to accommodate Kishan. India is a country rich in cricketing talent, and the fact that they have two young openers with ODI double-centuries vying for the same role in the team with the World Cup looming in ten months augurs very well for the future.