Ahmedabad T20I stars Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya pose with flight crew

Team India skipper Hardik Pandya and opener Shubman Gill posed with some crew members on their flight following the Men in Blue’s T20I series win over New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, February 1.

India pounded the Kiwis by 168 runs in the series decider at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The margin of victory is the biggest in a T20I game between two Full Member nations.

Batting first after winning the toss, Team India put up 234/4 on the board as Gill smashed an unbeaten 126 off 63 deliveries. With the ball, Hardik claimed 4/16 in his four overs as the visitors were bundled out for 66 in 12.1 overs.

On Thursday, February 2, Gill and Hardik obliged for a picture with the crew on their flight. The Indian captain is seen with his son Agastya on his lap. Hardik's wife Natasa Stankovic is also part of the picture.

Gill shared the image on his Instagram story with the caption - ‘The Crew’ and a red heart emoji.

A screenshot of Shubman Gill’s Insta story.

While Gill was named Player of the Match for slamming his maiden T20I hundred in Ahmedabad, Hardik was adjudged the Player of the Series for his impressive all-round showing.

“You gave me the confidence before the match” - Shubman Gill tells Hardik Pandya

While Gill has been in tremendous form in ODIs, he hadn’t done much of note in his short T20I career until Wednesday. The 23-year-old was dismissed for seven and 11 in the first two games of the series against New Zealand.

The opener expressed his gratitude towards his skipper for backing him. In a post-match interaction on bcci.tv, Gill told Hardik:

“I didn't do well up to my expectations in T20s. So I was eager to do well. You gave me the confidence before the match. Before I went to the game, you told me match se pehle ki jaise main khelta hu vaise hi khelo (before the match, you asked me to keep faith in my game). These small things help a long way.

“To be able to play how I play, I've to be very mentally clear. That's what you told me. Every time I hit a six, he (Hardik) came and told me hold your shape. You don't have to do anything extra. Don't try to go too hard. Every ball, he kept reminding me.. Tactically and technically, it was a near-perfect game for me.”

Of record-breaking knock & leading from the front to the importance of hard work 🔝 🙌

𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒: Captain @hardikpandya7 & @ShubmanGill chat after #TeamIndia's record win in Ahmedabad 👌 👌 - By @ameyatilak

Full interview 🎥 🔽 #INDvNZ
bit.ly/3JzMcKa https://t.co/Povf3rLzXq

Over the course of his exploits against New Zealand in the third T20I, Gill became only the fifth Indian player to smash a hundred in all three formats of international cricket.