Champions Trophy: Carrying on from heroics against England, Gill revels in newfound consistency

During India's Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh in Dubai, Gill's unbeaten 101(129) served as a testament and reminder for all his critics, who questioned the amount of faith the Indian management invested in him after a shambolic tour in Australia.

Last month, Gill's place in the Indian setup came up for debate after he returned from Australia. He had a meagre 93 runs to his name in five innings at an appalling average of 18.60, with 31 being his best score.

He understood the need to elevate his game, so he headed straight to the domestic circuit and struck a century for Punjab, even though they lost against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy.

Gill continued to put in the hard yards at the PCA Mohali before rejoining the Indian team for the three home ODIs against England during the build-up to the Champions Trophy.

All his hard work paid off when he played a fundamental role in helping India sweep the series with a 3-0 series win. With 259 runs from three innings, at an average of 86.33, including a century and two fifties, Gill proved that he was far from being written off.

He carried his hot form to Dubai and steered the ship past Bangladesh's 229-run target to open India's win account with a six-wicket triumph.

"It was definitely one of the most satisfying innings that I have played and my first century in ICC events. I was very satisfied and very happy with the way I performed," Gill said in the post-match presentation.

It all started with Gill raising a quick-fire 69-run opening partnership with skipper Rohit Sharma. Throughout their partnership, the duo exhibited a perfect blend of aggression and a touch of caution.

"When me and Rohit bhai went out there, we thought cutting the ball wasn't easy because the balls which were outside the off-stump weren't coming onto the bat that nicely. So I thought of using my feet to even the fast bowlers and tried to go over the circle," Gill said about his strategy with Rohit.

After Rohit skewed his shot to Rishad Hossain, Gill raised another significant 43-run stand with Virat to negate the spin threat posed by Bangladesh.

"When the spinners came on, me and Virat bhai were talking in the middle that it's not easy to score singles off the front foot, so we'll try to score singles off the back foot. And it's not easy to hit down the ground, so we just keep rotating the strike," he said.

When India lost Virat, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel in a cluster, Gill knew he had to stay till the end to ensure that the last edition finalists began their campaign on a winning note.

"At one point, there was a bit of pressure on us. The message was sent from outside that I have to try to bat till the end, and that's what I tried to do," he added.

Gill set the tone with his eighth ODI hundred, and Rahul topped it up with a single to keep the winning momentum on India's side before heading for the blockbuster clash against Pakistan on Sunday.

Since making his debut in 2020, in 18 matches that India won while chasing, Gill has showcased prolific form, garnering 834 runs at a stunning average of 64.15, with a century and six fifties.

En route to being the fastest to eight ODI centuries, Gill tonked two towering sixes, both credible enough to be considered a piece of art.

For his first six, it was a short-arm jab with a front-foot movement that allowed Gill to effortlessly smoke the ball into the second tier at deep mid-wicket. For his second maximum, he got inside the line and whipped the ball away nicely to make it disappear in no time.

"The first one gave me a lot of confidence, and the second one helped me come closer to my hundred, so both were very satisfying," Gill concluded.

Overall, In four ODIs this year, Gill has scored 360 runs at an average of 120.00, with a strike rate of almost 95, with two centuries and two fifties. In 51 ODIs, he has made 2,688 runs at an average of 62.51, with eight tons and 15 fifties. (ANI)