Rohit Sharma’s old Tweet on Shubman Gill goes viral after his double-hundred against New Zealand

Star Indian batter Shubman Gill entered the exclusive club of ODI double centurions during the first ODI against New Zealand in Hyderabad. The swashbuckling opener scored 208 off 149 balls with 19 fours and 9 sixes to help India score a mammoth 349/8 after opting to bat first. Gill single-handedly took India to a huge total, with the next best score being captain Rohit Sharma’s 34 off 38 balls.

Following Gill’s marvellous knock an old tweet of India captain Rohit Sharma has resurfaced on social media. In the tweet, Rohit had called Gill ‘the future’ of Indian cricket. Ahead of the start of the series, Rohit had Gill for the opener’s spot, ahead of Ishan Kishan, and his old tweet proves the sort of faith the India skipper has in the right-handed batter.

Rohit’s huge praise for Gill had come as a response after the latter had written on the micro-blogging site: “Well no one does pull shots better than the #Hitman Happy Birthday! @ImRo45.” In reply, Rohit wrote: “Thanks future”.

I could not convert in the first ODI against Sri Lanka: Shubman Gill

Talking about his knock against New Zealand, Gill had said, “This knock means a lot to me. I could not convert in the first ODI and third game (against Sri Lanka), I was looking to get a big score but it didn’t happen. Once I was set, the focus was to score as many runs as possible.”

“With the extra fielder inside the circle (in overs 11-40), we see the other teams pushing in the middle overs. Even when wickets were falling, I wanted to show intent to the bowlers because it’s very easy to bowl dot balls if the batter is not showing intent,” he added.

“So, that was my intent when the wickets were falling that ‘I will hit you if you are going to bowl bad balls’,” the 23-year-old said during the press conference after the match. Consistency is very important for me, it’s the key to everything. As a batter that is what I strive for in any format. It feels good when things you are doing repeatedly are paying off,” he further said.

Having made a strong statement with the bat in the first ODI, Gill would hope to continue his stupendous form as India take on New Zealand in the 2nd match of the series on Saturday.