Shubman Gill made his much-awaited return to action in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 during the game against Pakistan last week. The right-handed batsman missed India’s first two games of the tournament due to dengue.
He was diagnosed with dengue just before India’s first game of the competition against Australia in Chennai and had to be hospitalized. There were doubts over his participation in the game against Pakistan too but the youngster made enough recovery just in time to be available for the match. And he found a place in the playing eleven straightaway.
Shubman Gill looked in good touch and hit four boundaries during his 16-run knock before being dismissed by Shaheen Afridi. He will now be looking to make up for the matches he missed in the tournament. And a good outing in the forthcoming game against Bangladesh can also help Shubman Gill achieve a major milestone.
Shubman Gill Eyes Big Milestone:
Shubman Gill could break South Africa great Hashim Amla’s record of fastest to 2000 ODI runs. He needs only 67 runs to complete 2000 runs in the 50-over format. While Amla completed 2000 runs in 40 innings, Shubman Gill can do it in only his 37th ODI innings on Thursday (October 19).
The India opener has scored 1933 runs in 36 ODI innings so far at a stunning average of 64.43, including 7 hundreds and 9 fifties. He also has a double century to his name in ODIs. The fastest Indian to score 2000 runs is Shikhar Dhawan who achieved the feat in his 48th innings.
Fastest to 2000 ODI runs:
| Player | Matches | Innings |
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 41 | 40 |
| Zaheer Abbas (PAK) | 45 | 45 |
| Kevin Pietersen (ENG/ICC) | 51 | 45 |
| Babar Azam (PAK) | 47 | 45 |
| Rassie van der Dussen (SA) | 51 | 45 |
| Imam-ul-Haq (PAK) | 46 | 46 |
| Jonathan Trott (ENG) | 49 | 47 |
| Shai Hope (WI) | 51 | 47 |
| Vivian Richards (WI) | 49 | 48 |
| Shikhar Dhawan (IND) | 49 | 48 |
Shubman Gill is the highest run-scorer in ODIs this year and would be desperate to come up with a good show in his first-ever World Cup. Talking about India, they will be eyeing their fourth win of the competition on Thursday (October 19) when they take on Bangladesh.
