• Shubman Gill was dismissed in last over of his innings with a score of 208 off 149 balls.
• He is one of only eight players to hit a double hundred in a men’s ODI.
• Gill becomes joint-second-fastest player in ODI history to reach 1000 runs.

Shubman Gill, the right-handed India opener, broke several records on Wednesday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium when he smashed a superb double hundred against New Zealand.

As one of only eight players in the history of the sport to have hit a double hundred in a men’s ODI, Gill’s brilliant performance made him the youngest member of the prestigious group. Gill was 23 years old and 132 days at the start of the first ODI.

Ishan Kishan, who established the record with 210 against Bangladesh last month at the age of 24 years and 145 days, was the previous youngest player.

With 19 fours and nine sixes to help India reach a whopping score of 349/8, Gill was dismissed in the last over of his innings with a score of 208 off 149 balls. Captain Rohit Sharma scored 34, which was the next-highest total in the inning. Throughout the innings, the youthful opener’s scoring increased, with his first 50 runs coming off 52 balls. In just 35 deliveries, he moved from 50 to 100, then in another 35, he went from 100 to 150.

Gill went from 150 to 200 in just 23 balls, breaking the double-century mark as a result of three successive sixes off Lockie Ferguson in the 49th over, but it was his final burst that really saw the tempo pick up.

When he achieved 106 in his 19th ODI innings, he also set a new record for fastest 1000 ODI runs scored by an Indian player. After his last ODI score, a 97-ball 116 against Sri Lanka in the series finale at Thiruvananthapuram’s Greenfield International Stadium, it continues Gill’s streak of strong performances in the format.

Gill passed Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan, who shared the previous record with 24 innings played, to become the Indian and joint-second-fastest player in ODI history to reach 1000 runs. He missed out on another Pakistani opener, Fakhar Zaman, who set the record for the fastest to 1000 ODI runs in 18 innings, but he did tie Pakistan opener Iman-ul-Haq for breaking the 1000-run barrier in 19 innings.

Just before he hit fifty in the 19th over, he had a lucky break. Tom Latham, the captain of New Zealand, dropped the batsman and lost a chance to stump Michael Bracewell. Fast bowler Henry Shipley, who missed a chance to be caught and bowled and ultimately cost his team dearly, also dropped Gill at 124.

With his 264 against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2014, Rohit still maintains the record for the highest individual score in a men’s ODI. He is the only player in the format to have achieved a double-hundred three times; the other two times were against Australia in 2013 (209) and Sri Lanka in 2017 (208 not out).

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