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Cricket PlayersShubman Gill leaves behind Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar; second straight ODI century drives India to win vs Bangladesh
In terms of balls faced, it is, in fact, the fourth-slowest century by an Indian in the last 15 years.
India opener Shubman Gill continued his sublime form in ODI cricket on Thursday. On his Champions Trophy debut at the Dubai International Stadium in the Group A match against Bangladesh, he scored his eighth career century. His unbeaten 129-ball knock helped India make a winning start to the tournament, beating Bangladesh by six wickets.
"This is the slowest century by an Indian in ODI cricket since the 2019 World Cup," informed former India head coach Ravi Shastri on air after Gill reached the triple-figure mark on his 125th ball, but labelled it "invaluable," given the context. In terms of balls faced, it is, in fact, the fourth-slowest century by an Indian in the last 15 years. However, the knock made him the quickest India batter to eight ODI tons. Reaching the feat in just 51 innings, he went past Shikhar Dhawan (57), Virat Kohli (68), Gautam Gambhir (98) and the legendary Sachin Tendulkar (111).
Gill, India's vice-captain, became the seventh India batter to score a ton in the Champions Trophy after Dhawan, Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Kaif, Rohit Sharma, Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar. It was also his maiden ton in an ICC tournament.
This was also the youngster's second consecutive hundred. He smashed 112 against England last week in Ahmedabad, a knock that saw him rise to the top of the ICC rankings for the first time since the 2023 ODI World Cup.
India make winning start
Neither team had it easy at the Dubai International Stadium, but Bangladesh fought after being reduced to 35 for five.
Towhid Hridoy notched up his maiden hundred and became Bangladesh's first centurion in an ICC tournament. He stitched a record 154-run stand for the sixth wicket alongside Jaker Ali as Bangladesh put on a respectable total of 228. For India, Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers with his five-wicket haul.
Bangladesh then dented India with wickets after conceding a quick start. Rohit made an aggressive start as Gill took his time to settle down. Rishad troubled Virat Kohli and Axar Patel, while Mustafizur Rahman deceived Shreyas Iyer with a slower delivery. But KL Rahul and Gill negated the pressure sensibly to take India home.
