Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar showered praise on vice-captain Shubman Gill for his exceptional performance in the first ODI of the three-match series against England on Thursday, February 6. The match was held at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.
Batting first, England were bundled out for 248 in 47.4 overs with skipper Jos Buttler (52) and Jacob Bethell (51) scoring fifties. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja and Harshit Rana bagged three wickets each for the hosts.
In reply, India lost both their opening batters, captain Rohit Sharma (2), and Yashasvi Jaiswal (15) early. Shubman Gill then came to the crease at number 3 and played a pivotal role in a 94-run partnership off 64 balls with Shreyas Iyer, largely anchoring the innings.
After Iyer was dismissed for 59 off 36 balls, Gill teamed up with Axar Patel (52 off 47), putting together another outstanding partnership of 108 runs off 107 balls, putting India in a strong position.
Shubman played a stellar innings, anchoring the team’s total with 87 off 96 balls, including 14 boundaries. However, he couldn’t see India through to victory, falling just 14 runs short of the target.
Amidst all this, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar took to social media platform X to applaud Shubman for his remarkable innings, emphasizing that he will be a valuable asset to Indian cricket for years to come. He wrote:
The hosts won the game by four wickets with 68 balls to spare, taking a 1-0 lead in the series with two games remaining.
Shubman Gill made his ODI debut for India in a match against New Zealand in 2019, and since then, the Punjab cricketer has swiftly established himself as a key player in the ODI setup.
The 25-year-old has played 48 ODIs for India, amassing 2,415 runs at an impressive average of 58.90. His tally includes 14 fifties and six centuries, with his highest score being an outstanding 208.
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