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India's star opener Shubman Gill scripted history after smacking a whirlwind double century in the first ODI against New Zealand in Hyderabad on Wednesday (January 18).
Gill belted 208 off 149 which was adorned with 19 fours and six maximums to help India post a mammoth total of 349/8. In reply, Black Caps fell 12 runs short despite Michael Bracewell's fighting 140 off 78 balls. The 23-year-old became the youngest batter to hit a double ton in ODIs as he joined the Indian double centurion elite club which features Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan.
Meanwhile, in the post match presentation Gill was asked how does it feel to join Kishan in the elite club double ton scorers, to which he said,"He (Kishan) is one of my best mates. I was there when he scored his ODI double-hundred and it was special. It feels nice when you want to do something and it is coming off regularly. Definitely a sense of satisfaction. It (double ton) has sunk in pretty well. The game went much closer than I expected".
Earlier, Kishan had clobbered a double century in the third ODI against Bangladesh in December last year when he took just 126 balls to reach the milestone. Notably, Gill was not part of the India's ODI squad when the southpaw played a cracking knock of 210.
After wrapping up the post match presentation, the Player of the Match, Gill interacted with skipper Rohit Sharma and Kishan in a chat session. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared the candid conversation between the Indian troika where Gill revealed his pre-match fun duel with his best friend Kishan.
Here's the excerpt from the conversation
Ishan Kishan: "I have a question for him) What was your pre-match routine?"
Rohit Sharma: (Interrupting) “You should know that as you guys stay in the same room…”
Shubman Gill: "He (Kishan) spoils my entire pre-match routine as he doesn't let me sleep. He doesn't use earphones and watches movie in full volume. Isko main gaali deke bolta hu bhai awaz kam kar le ya earphones laga le. Par ye bolta hai 'tu mere room mein so raha hai. Meri marzi se chalega. Har roz ladai hoti hai. (I abuse him and ask him to turn down the volume but he says it is his room and the rules will be according to him. I fight with him daily). This is my pre-match."
Ishan Kishan: “I think it is because you slept in my room, you scored my runs.”
Rohit Sharma: “Just to let you know guys. These two are real buddies. They've been playing cricket together since ages. They go back a long way. They've got great camaraderie.”
Gill, who scored back-to-back ton in ODIs, took just 87 balls to complete his century, and six balls later created history by becoming the fastest Indian batter to 1000 ODI runs, having achieved the feat in 19 innings and leaving behind Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan at 24 innings.
India and New Zealand will again lock horns with each other in the second ODI which will be played in Raipur on January 21.
