When India was under pressure in the last of the three-match Test series against New Zealand, Shubman Gill displayed the right balance before aggression and defense at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai for his incredible knock of 90 runs, shouldering on seven boundaries and one six. The knock rescued India from the tricky position on a slow and low turner.
The knock of Shubman Gill helped the home side get a slight lead of 28 runs on the board in their first innings. It wasn’t an easy track, as the ball was turning sharply in most of the periods. But the batter showed huge determination and patience to lead the fightback of the home side.
The Punjab-born made his Test debut in December 2020 and went past Cheteshwar Pujara with his 90-run knock in the elite list of the World Test Championship (WTC). The batter has gone past the Saurashtra batter, who nailed 1769 runs in 62 innings at an average of under 30 and a strike rate of 39 with the help of 15 half-centuries and one century of unbeaten 102 runs.
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Shubman Gill had his luck during the knock as he looked to use his feet and smash the ball out of the park. But he turned sharply to take the inside edge and went high in the air, only for the substitute fielder Mark Chapman to drop it. The batter put on a 96-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Rishabh Pant, who also celebrated his half-century.
Shubman Gill goes past Cheteshwar Pujara; targets Rishabh Pant next
The all-rounder of the side, Washington Sundar, also played a cameo of 38 runs in just 36 balls, which gave them some cushion in the total. The left-arm spinner of the Kiwi side, Ajaz Patel, bagged a five-wicket haul, while Ish Sodhi and Glenn Phillips also chipped in one wicket each in respective spells.
Shubman Gill has now cracked 1800 runs in 54 innings of the WTC cycle at an average of 36.37 and a strike rate of over 60 with the help of five centuries and seven half-centuries at a best score of 128 runs. The next target for him on the list is Rishabh Pant from the Indian team. The wicket-keeper batter has recorded 1997 runs in 51 innings at an average of over 42 and a strike rate of 75.96, shouldering on four centuries and 12 half-centuries.
For India, the topper of the Blue Brigade in the list is their captain Rohit Sharma, who has 2685 runs in 64 innings at an average of 44.01 and a strike rate of 60 with the help of eight half-centuries and nine centuries at a best score of 212.
The Nagpur-born is followed by their former captain Virat Kohli, who has smashed 2427 runs in 70 innings at an average of over 36.77 and a strike rate of 52.04 with the help of four centuries and 11 half-centuries.
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Shubman Gill didn’t enjoy a great time in the second innings of the Mumbai Test as he could just open his account. He left the ball from Ajaz Patel, which came with the angle to break the furniture, putting the home side under tremendous pressure.
“I worked on my game before the England series started. I didn’t get that much time because of injury. Before the Pune Test, I got net sessions. Conversations with the coach were to have more repetition of the practice I do.” The batter, however, addressed in the press-conference regarding his 90-run knock in the first innings.