Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina’s records are broken by Shubman Gill with his stunning T20I century against New Zealand, making history.

Shubman Gill, who recently recorded an electrifying double century against New Zealand, carried over his destructive form into the T20Is and hit his first century in the format against the BlackCaps in the series-clinching match at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Gill, who needed only 54 balls to get his century, joined Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, and KL Rahul as the only other Indians to reach the century mark in all forms of the game.

With that, Gill made cricketing history in India by passing Suresh Raina to become the country’s youngest player to score a century in a Twenty20 match. Just 10 days behind Raina, who had scored 101 against South Africa in 2010 at the age of 23 years and 156 days, Gill reached the milestone in 23 years and 146 days. After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, India produced a whopping 234/4 with Gill still undefeated on 126 after only 63 balls. India’s highest-ever T20I score versus New Zealand is this.

If that isn’t proof enough of his supremacy, Gill added another achievement to his resume with his century. The India opener recently surpassed Virat Kohli’s previous record for the best individual T20I score by an Indian with a score of 126, breaking it. Former India skipper Kohli set a record that only lasted 146 days when he scored 122 runs off 61 balls against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup in 2022.

Gill played with tenacity the whole game. After only hitting two boundaries in the opening two overs, Gill made his intentions clear by hitting Lockie Ferguson for 11 runs in the third over. He hit three boundaries off Blair Tickner in the next game while being much more brutal. Rahul Tripathi took the initiative as the aggressor as Gill waited patiently at the other end, but once the No. 3 batsman was out, Gill was free to attack with all of his might.

Between overs 10 and 14, just one four and a six were struck by Gill. Gill, on the other hand, lost it when Suryakumar Yadav left after a 12-ball 24-run cameo and skipper Hardik Pandya joined him. He hit two straight sixes off Ben Lister, then two more peaks and a four off Ticker to into the nineties. Ferguson’s excellent cover drive sent Gill beyond the three-figure mark, but he didn’t stop there. He amassed 17 off the last over to comfortably propel India beyond the 200-mark and beyond.

Gill understood that as long as Ishan Kishan was getting bad grades, it was his time to shine. Tripathi, who rocketed to 44 off only 24 balls while slamming four boundaries and three sixes throughout his very entertaining innings, provided him with outstanding assistance. Gill had outstanding partnerships with everyone, scoring 80 with Tripathi, 38 in a flash with SKY, and 103 in only 41 balls with Hardik. The quickest bowler in New Zealand, Ferguson, conceded 54 runs off four overs, while Tickner conceded 50 runs from three. In contrast to the previous two games, NZ suggested as many as seven bowlers, but India sauntered to their fifth-highest score in T20Is.