"I got another opportunity to play a long innings, so it felt pretty good when it paid off" - Shubman Gill

Team India's opening batter Shubman Gill translated his fine form to another level by scoring a double hundred in the first ODI against New Zealand on January 18. He became the youngest player to achieve the feat, beating his teammate Ishan Kishan as India won the contest by 12 runs.

The former U-19 World Cup member has been in near-invincible touch in the 50-over format since making his return on the tour of the Caribbean last year. He is the leading run-scorer in Team India's home season, having scored two fifties and a hundred across the four matches that have been played so far.

His most recent outing, which broke a set of records, saw him score 208 runs off 149 deliveries while others seemed to struggle on the surface at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Double Hundred Club 💯💯
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Shedding light on his incredible performance, Gill said in an interaction with Team India's fellow double-centurions Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan:

"It felt pretty amazing. In the first and the third ODI against Sri Lanka, I was not happy with the way I got out, I was looking to go big, but it did not happen. In this match, I got a start once again, I got the 100, so I got another opportunity to play a long innings, so it felt pretty good when it paid off."

Gill led the charge for the Men in Blue with the bat by scoring the majority of the runs. The next highest score came in the form of the skipper, who scored 34 runs while opening the innings after winning the toss.

"The bowler should feel that the batter is showing intent, looking for boundaries" - Shubman Gill

The youngster was in full flow from one end right from the word go, while wickets tumbled from the other end. Virat Kohli and Ishan Kishan were dismissed for single-digit scores while Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya could not convert their respective starts.

2️⃣0️⃣8️⃣ runs
1️⃣4️⃣9️⃣ balls
9️⃣ sixes 🔥

A monumental double-century from @ShubmanGill makes him the Player of the Match as #TeamIndia register a 12-run victory in the first #INDvNZ ODI 👏

Scorecard ▶️ bit.ly/INDvNZ-2023-1S…
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This pattern of play left Shubman Gill in a rather tricky position. He had to hold his end but had to timely push up the run rate as well. Revealing that he did not allow the bowlers to settle by constantly showing intent despite the situation, Gill said:

"Did not really think about accelerating when wickets were falling from the other end, was not trying to do anything different. One thing is that, when wickets are continuously falling, it will be easier for the bowler to bowl dot balls because he is not under pressure. The bowler should feel that the batter is showing intent, looking for boundaries."

The historic double century pushed Team India's total to 349-8, a total which proved to be barely enough. A special knock from Michael Bracewell (140 off 78 deliveries) almost helped the Kiwis chase down the total.

Has Shubman Gill sealed his spot as an opening batter in ODIs for the foreseeable future? Let us know what you think.

Also Read: "That's not cricket" - Sunil Gavaskar not amused by Ishan Kishan's antics of dislodging bails against Tom Latham