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India beat New Zealand 2-1 in the T20I series that concluded on February 1. The visitors won their first game by 21 runs, while the hosts won the subsequent encounter by 6 wickets. The third and final match at Ahmedabad was the decider.
India won the match by a staggering margin of 168 runs. This was their biggest victory by runs in the format. Shubman Gill became the 7th Indian batter to score a T20I hundred after Suresh Raina, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, and Virat Kohli.
On the back of the youngster's riveting performance, we look at the top 3 individual scores by Indian batters in T20 internationals.
#1 Shubman Gill - 126*(63) vs New Zealand, Ahmedabad 2023
Shubman Gill came into the series after scoring 3 centuries in the first 6 ODIs of the year, including a double hundred. However, he did not have the best start to his T20 international career. He is expected to perform consistently given the cutthroat competition for top-order slots in the national team setup.
India won the toss and elected to bat first. Despite Ishan Kishan's dismissal in the 2nd over of the innings, Gill looked to bat aggressively. He formed a crucial top-order partnership with his former KKR teammate Rahul Tripathi (44 off 22). He brought up his first half-century in 36 balls and the next 50 runs in just 18.
Gill took the Kiwi pacers apart and maintained a good scoring rate against spin. The youngster looked at ease even against Lockie Ferguson as he exhibited his all-format batting talent.
#2 Virat Kohli - 122*(61) vs Afghanistan, Dubai 2022
This knock will be remembered fondly by Indian cricket fans as Virat Kohli's elusive 71st international hundred - his first across all formats in 1021 days. Although India were already out of the Asia Cup, every game was important in the build-up to the T20 World Cup. Rohit Sharma was rested in this game as KL Rahul took over the captaincy.
Kohli opened the innings with Rahul and they looked to bat aggressively right from the word go. He gave glimpses of his vintage self, fearlessly taking on the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman even after the first 6 overs.
Kohli brought up his maiden T20 international hundred with a six. His smile said it all as he was finally relieved to have the monkey off his back. This fluent knock gave him confidence and form at just the right time for India.
#3 Rohit Sharma - 118 (43) vs Sri Lanka, Indore 2017
Cricket fans have often wondered if a batter can go on to score a double hundred in the shortest form of the game. Rohit looked on course for that when he made the-then highest T20I score by an Indian batter against Sri Lanka in 2017. Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl first on a belter in Indore.
Rohit was in sensational form as he brought up his first 50 runs off 23 balls in the ninth over of the innings. 'Hitman' went berserk in the next 12 deliveries. He later explained that his game relies more on timing than brute power, an accurate assessment of what made him a successful batter in this format.
This was Sharma's second T20 international hundred. It also gave him momentum as a white ball batter. His sensational form carried over to the next calendar year, as he scored another couple of centuries in 2018 against England and West Indies. He remains the batter with the most hundreds in the format at the international level.
