When Shubman Gill Topped Virat Kohli To Smash India’s Highest T20I Score

image-ls30kvryShubman Gill celebrating his record-shattering T20I ton in February 2023 (AP)

It took Shubman Gill nearly four years after making international debut to earn his maiden T20I gig for Team India. Remarkably, it took him less than a month thereafter to pen his name among the elite pages of India’s greatest T20I record books.

Turning up for the ‘Men in Blue’ in the wake of their disastrous show at the preceding T20 World Cup in Australia, the prodigious batting talent instilled a new hope for India’s T20I future by pulverising New Zealand’s visiting attack during one of his earliest exposures to the shortest international format of the game.

When Gill blitzed past Virat Kohli for a huge record

Playing only the sixth T20I of his career for Team India, Shubman Gill took field at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on February 1, 2023 to face New Zealand in the final match of their three-game series.

After losing opening partner Ishan Kishan inside the second over of the innings, Gill led India’s recovery with valiant partnerships with number three Rahul Tripathi, middle-order basher Suryakumar Yadav and stand-in captain Hardik Pandya for the subsequent three wickets to take his side to a colossal 234-4 off their 20 overs.

Gill himself pumped out 126 unbeaten runs in the process from just 63 balls, and entertained a lively Ahmedabad crowd with 12 boundaries and seven sixes while doing so.

As it turned out, Gill’s boundary-laden blinder also helped him blaze past Virat Kohli to notch up India’s highest-ever T20I individual score. Kohli held the previous record, having scored 122* against Afghanistan during an Asia Cup 2022 game in the UAE.

To date, Shubman Gill has featured in 14 T20I matches for India and has tallied 335 runs to his name. He recently took part in India’s home quest of a three-match series against Afghanistan, where he scored a rapid 12-ball 23 at the top at Mohali to set up a six-wicket win for his side.

As of now, Gill is one of the likely contenders to win a ticket to West Indies for this year’s T20 World Cup 2024.