3 reasons why Shubman Gill's 121 vs Bangladesh was better than his double hundred against New Zealand

Team India opener Shubman Gill slammed a brilliant 121 off 133 balls against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday. The 24-year-old struck eight fours and five sixes in his innings, notching up his fifth ODI hundred in the process.

India bowled first after winning the toss and held Bangladesh to 265/8. The Men in Blue got off to a great start and reduced the opposition to 59/4 by the 14th over. However, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan (80 off 85), Towhid Hridoy (54 off 81), Nasum Ahmed (44 off 45), and Mahedi Hasan (29* off 23) combined to lift the batting side.

Chasing 266 for victory, Team India, who were without a number of their senior cricketers, slumped to 94/4. Gill kept the team in the hunt until his dismissal in the 44th over to Mahedi Hasan. All-rounder Axar Patel (42 off 34) also fought hard with the bat, but the Men in Blue fell short as they were bowled out for 259 in 49.5 overs.

Gill’s highest ODI score is 208 against New Zealand, which he scored in Hyderabad in January this year.

In his feature, we analyze three reasons why his knock against Bangladesh was better than his double hundred.

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#1 Chasing is tougher than setting a target in ODIs

The 24-year-old (right) hit eight fours and five sixes. (Pic: AP)

With all due credit to Gill for his fabulous double ton against the Kiwis, the fact is that setting a target is easier than chasing one in ODIs, unless, of course, the conditions at the start of a match are excessively in favor of the bowlers.

Team India won the toss and batted first against New Zealand in Hyderabad. They also got off to an assured start, with skipper Rohit Sharma (34 off 38) adding 60 runs for the first wicket with Gill. While Virat Kohli and Ishan Kishan fell early, Suryakumar Yadav (31) and Hardik Pandya (28) chipped in with handy contributions.

Gill was in a different zone in Hyderabad with the bat and eased his way past a double hundred as India posted 349/8. In contrast, although India were set to chase under 270 against Bangladesh in Colombo, the pressure was firmly on Gill after Rohit was dismissed for a duck and ODI debutant Tilak Varma for 5.

Things got worse as KL Rahul (19) and Kishan (5) also fell without contributing much. Suryakumar (26 off 34) hung around for a while with Gill, but his knock was not significant enough in the context of the chase.

Until Axar Patel opened up at the death, it was the centurion who single-handedly kept India in the hunt till he was dismissed.

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#2 The challenging nature of the surface

The right-handed batter looked in command out in the middle. (Pic: AP)

Apart from chasing, the challenging nature of the surface also made life difficult for India’s batters. However, Gill looked at complete ease out in the middle, even as most of the other batters, barring Axar, struggled for rhythm. He cleared the field with ease, hitting as many as five sixes.

The genius of Gill’s knock can be gauged from the fact that, apart from him, Axar was the only Indian batter to clear the ropes. Also, while the 24-year-old opener struck eight fours, all the other India batters in the game had a combined tally of 10 fours. Gill’s stroke play was clearly of a different quality.

In contrast, conditions for batting were comparatively easier in Hyderabad. While India scored 349 on the track in Uppal, New Zealand responded with 337 as Michael Bracewell (140 off 78) launched a stunning counter-attack, clobbering 12 fours and as many as 10 sixes.

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#3 Quality of spinners Gill was up against

Mahedi Hasan celebrates the dismissal of India’s centurion in Colombo. (Pic: AP)

With all due credit to New Zealand, they have limitations in the spin department. In the match against India in Hyderabad, they played left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and off-spinner Bracewell as their two bowlers.

While Santner, who is more of a defensive bowler, went for 56 runs in his 10 overs, claiming a solitary wicket, Bracewell was hammered for 43 runs in six overs and did not claim a wicket.

Gill was in for a trial by spin in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match against Bangladesh on Friday. The pitch in Colombo, which offered the slow bowlers assistance, made the Bangladesh spinner even tougher to tackle.

Mahedi Hasan (2/50), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (1/29), Shakib (1/43), and Nasum Ahmed (0/50) all kept things extremely tight.

To his credit, Gill was able to score freely against the spinners and opened up when needed. And had he batted till the end, there was a high probability of India getting over the line. But it wasn’t to be as the opener perished to Mahedi Hasan, mistiming a rare big hit.