Indian captain Shubman Gill put an end to his series of low scores in the shortest format of International cricket with an astonishing fifty against Zimbabwe in the third T20I of the five-match T20I series at the Harare Sports Club in Harare, on July 10 (Wednesday). This was his first T20I half-century after August 2023. Gill was given India's captaincy for the first time but he was unable to contribute with the bat in the first two games. However, he stepped up and played a good knock in the third clash.
Shubman Gill ends run drought
Gill won the toss and elected to bat first. He opened the innings with the returning Yashasvi Jaiswal and pushed the hosts on the back foot early on with their aggressive approach. Both of them joined a good 67-run opening partnership by the 8th over itself. Gill scored a crucial fifty as he was the highest run scorer for the Men in Blue side and helped them post a fighting total of 182/4. Gill scored 66 runs off 49 balls which also included seven fours and three sixes. The second-highest scorer was Ruturaj Gaikwad with 49 off 28 balls.
Shubman Gill has faced a lot of criticism for his performance in T20Is as his numbers don't justify his talent. The star opener has 434 runs in 17 matches with a not-so-impressive average of 27.12. He has been dismissed on a single-digit score 11 times in his 17 outings. He only has two fifties and one hundred. However, he looked in great touch and would like to bring his consistency in this format as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma has announced their retirement. This has left a big hole in the Indian team and they would need someone like Gill to step up and try to fill that space.
IND vs ZIM 3rd T20I playing XIs
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed
Zimbabwe: Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wessly Madhevere, Brian Bennett, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza(c), Johnathan Campbell, Clive Madande(w), Wellington Masakadza, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara
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