The 2018 U19 world cup was a historic one for India since it transformed the way BCCI and the IPL teams looked at youngsters. A considerable investment was made in these young minds on the back of some impressive U19 performances. One such youngster, who rose through the ranks and established himself as India’s backbone heading into the world cup is Shubman Gill. He not only ended up as the leading run scorer in that world cup but his century against Pakistan in the semi-finals showed his utmost maturity and ability to play under pressure.
Fast forward 5 years to 2023 and he arguably played one of the best innings in the history of ODI cricket. His 208 against New Zealand was combined with aggressive power hitting and matured strike rotation on a pitch which was tacky and two-paced when all the other batters were not able to convert their starts. In this article, we will analyze the performance of Gill in the last 1 year and we will specifically focus on the ODI format of the game.
Phase-wise Analysis
Here, we have split each phase into 10 overs to give us an idea of how Gill has progressed his innings. Gill has been usually criticized for producing knocks with lower strike rate but with more exposure, he has improved his strike rates. In the first 10 overs, he struck at a brilliant 97 but he has consumed more dots and has rotated the strike at a lesser rate of just about 25 percent. It is around the first 20 overs that Gill takes his time to adjust to the condition and the opponents and it is also around these phases where the opponent usually gets him dismissed. But once he has settled in the crease, there is never looking back. We can notice the meteoric rise in his strike rate from 87 to 129 with a boundary percentage of 18.
Another interesting insight is that even though the boundary percentage has decreased to 13 in the 4th phase, his strike rotation percentage has increased to a stunning 67 percentage and his dot percentage is at its lowest of 20 percent, which is why he is able to maintain a similar strike rate of 129 and these just speak volumes of his ability to beautifully pace his innings. Although his exposure in the death overs is considerably less, he has nevertheless made a significant impact by striking at close to 160 and maintaining a boundary percentage of 19.
Against Bowlers Analysis
Gill is a batsman who has generally been comfortable playing off-spinners but tends to struggle with leg spinners. Similarly, he is someone who usually struggles with extra pace on the ball. But ever since his purple patch started in the ODIs, he has been a completely different batsman altogether. He has a strike rate of over 100 against every kind of bowler he has faced so far and he has been phenomenal against right-arm off-spinners, striking at a mammoth 175.5. Unlike his IPL self, he has never been dismissed by a leg spinner and continues to maintain a healthy strike rate of 121 with a meagre dot percentage of 32.
Though he hasn’t been exposed to a lot of quality left-arm seamers, he has looked very comfortable against such bowlers. One area where Gill generally struggles is against right-arm fast bowlers, especially when they notch up the pace. He has been dismissed 6 times at a ball per dismissal value of 29.5, which is significantly better than his IPL record but it is still an area where he would like to work upon.
Conclusion
Just around the time when India was finding a replacement for Dhawan at the top, Shubman Gill has stepped up at crucial moments and has cemented his spot as a permanent member of the team. His ability to also play anywhere in the top 4 makes him a flexible option and an upcoming star in the world of International Cricket.
