India vs New Zealand: Kohli reacts to Gill’s maiden T20I hundred, calls him ‘Sitara’

Young opener Shubman Gill excelled in India’s dominating 168-run victory over New Zealand in the third and final T20I on Tuesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. The 23-year-old notched up the maiden T20I century of his career scoring 126 runs in 63 deliveries.

Following his commendable knock that took India to a mammoth total of 234 runs in the first innings, Gill silenced his detractors who were criticising him earlier for his poor form in the shortest format. After his heroic innings, the Indian cricket fraternity showered immense praise on Gill and former skipper Virat Kohli was one among them.

Taking to his personal Instagram, Kohli dropped a photograph with Gill and termed him “a Sitara (a star).” The veteran batter who was rested in the T20I series against the Black Caps also named Gill “the future” of Indian cricket.

Following the centurion knock, Shubman Gill has become the Indian batter with the highest individual score in the T20 Internationals. The previous record was held by none other than Kohli who had smashed 122 runs against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup last year.

Gill is now only the fifth Indian batter to have a century in all three formats, even though he made his debut in the 20-over format this year during the earlier home series against Sri Lanka.

However, he was struggling to pick up the form and managed to score just 76 runs in his first five appearances. He had to face much criticism from the fans for being given the opportunity in the opening slot while Prithvi Shaw – another young opener in form – was demanding a place owing to his impressive performance in the Sayed Mustafa Ali Trophy.

Coming to the match, after the early dismissal of fellow opener Ishan Kishan, Gill took on the responsibility and stitched a crucial 80-run stand with Rahul Tripathi, building the foundation. Though Tripathi departed for 44 runs, Gill stuck to the crease and continued the show, joining hands with upcoming batters including Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya. His unbeaten knock was decorated with as many as 12 boundaries and 7 sixes.

Coming in to chase down the huge target, the Kiwi batting unit fell like a pack of cards as they were bundled out for just 66 runs in 12.1 overs. With the one-sided victory in the decider, the Hardik Pandya-led side bagged the series 2-1.

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