2018 was an exhilarating year for world cricket. A barrage of non-stop entertaining cricketing action kept fans on the tenterhooks.?
Meg Lanning, Alyssa Healy, Stafanie Taylor and Smriti Mandhana, to quote a few names would emerge as dominant heroes guiding the women¡¯s game on its path of constant growth.??
It was a year where the India Women¡¯s side traveled to South Africa and won both the 50-over and T20I series, a rare achievement. Mithali¡¯s side might have even whitewashed the Proteas in ODI¡¯s had Mignon du Preez not stood up in the final game at Senews Park, scoring an unbeaten 90 off 111 to save her South African side the blues.?
Meanwhile, the West Indies men¡¯s senior side visited India and got hammered in each of the T20I it contested in; India leaving little to the imagination in the games held at Lucknow, Calcutta and Chennai.?
A Shai Hope hundred, however, in an ODI played in that same series provided a moment of vital respite for the largely deflated Caribbean side.?
2018 also saw a struggle among the Afghans, Zimbabweans, Scotts, West Indians and the Irish who¡¯d compete with other minnows in a bid to qualify for the next year¡¯s men¡¯s ODI World Cup, which was due to be held in England.?
But elsewhere, a young Indian was forging his own destiny, doing something incredible to perhaps deliver a hard knock on the door of the selectors for a future India call-up.?
He¡¯d fire no fewer than 418 runs at a sweltering average north of 104 and thus emerged among the staggering run makers of the Under-19 World Cup.?
His brave batting enabled India to lift a fourth title in the mighty competitive series.?
Three years down to line, whilst wearing the prestigious white Indian jersey, he¡¯d etch his name among a list of historic names that starred in a famous Gabba run heist.?
Asked to chase 328 but against a lethal attack comprising Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, India rode high on the fluent batting of this young man who dashed 91 daring runs and brought his country closer to the hope of trumping its dominant hosts.?
Eventually, a Pant and Pujara special, the vital add ons to the crisp start provided by the top order, sealed the fate of the contest in India¡¯s favour.?
Then, around two cricketing summers since??his heroics Down Under, the very young man quite simply mauled an unsuspecting New Zealand side at Hyderabad in the opening game of the three match series.?
Truth be told, for as long as he remains an active Indian cricketer, January 18, 2023 will be remembered as the coming of age of Shubman Gill. It¡¯ll be hailed as the day where a 23-year-old batter battered the living daylights out of a Blackcaps side that was no slouch with the ball; featuring talents of the likes of Blaire Tickner, Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson.??
It¡¯s not always that a Ferguson goes for nearly eight an over off his spell. But then it¡¯s not always that a young batsman who¡¯s but new to the testing waters of international cricket fires 208 of his team¡¯s 349 runs on his own.?
And neither is that sight all too common where a newcomer to the game heavily out scores a Virat and Rohit.?
In so doing, Shubman Gill smoked 9 sixes and cracked 19 fours whilst scoring a career best double century.?
Moreover, Gill¡¯s audacious effort turned out to be the second double hundred in ODI cricket for India in a space of five weeks, the first fired by Ishan Kishan versus Bangladesh.?
But all of that said, just three days ago there emerged a piece of statistic that could be termed a touch mad given it just heightens the excitement that surrounds Shubman Gill.?
Comparing India¡¯s uncompromising right hander to South Africa¡¯s stoic middle order bat Rassie van der Dussen, the numbers told their own tale.?
While RVD has taken 35 innings to touch a one-day average of 69, Gill has taken just 21 innings to cross a one day average of 73.?
The fastest man to score 1000 one day runs for India, Shubman Gill, it ought to be reminded has only just begun.?
His best days, possibly a decade of hard-fought, enterprising and captivating cricket, rests in the future.?
He¡¯s already nearing 1,500 one day runs and has found a place in the shortest form of the game.??
Though most importantly, the likes of Rishab Pant and Ishan Kishan, and Shubman Gill have arguably arrived at just the right time for an India that¡¯s keen to rebuild.?
Not that their brand of quintessentially daring Cricket that seems to be very much on the front foot is waning. But truly speaking, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma aren¡¯t getting any younger.?
With Bumrah frequently injured and now even Pant on the sidelines thanks to a serious road mishap that could have gone anyway, India needs its Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Ishan Kishan now.?
But if you thought about it, you¡¯d find that there exists a world that has everything to do with realism and practicality one that goes beyond hype and imagination.?
And truth is that a Suryakumar Yadav, regardless of how mind bending his batting, cannot win India games every other day.?
Someone right up the order has to do the job or if not, then take the lion¡¯s share or run scoring.?
By that train of thought, it ought to be addressed that Gill¡¯s task isn¡¯t going to be any easy unlike how the case was supposedly for Kohli.
Though the latter could afford to falter since the side he was born into still had a Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhoni in the ranks, Gill doesn¡¯t have that many mega stars around him; the current Indian blue jersey wearing unit has several youngsters keen to forge their own destiny.?
And each are there on their own. There never were any godfathers. There never will be.?
As a testimony to the remarkably competitive standards of cricket existing in India, for every single spot that exists there are perhaps three names available at any given time.?
If Shubman Gill falters, presumably speaking, then there¡¯ll be the likes of Patidar, Gaekwad and Samson eagerly waiting for their chance.?
Which is why despite having begun well, Gill¡¯s task isn¡¯t done yet.?
As a matter of factly, his biggest challenge awaits him now. It¡¯s the year of the 2023 Men¡¯s ODI World Cup. India is slated to host the event in its entirety for the first time ever.?
This is the time to go for the kill and perhaps attempt what the Rohit and Shikhar partnership did for the country back in 2019, a year where none knew the Ferozepur-born right hander in international cricket.?
The kind of big, balsy starts that the famous Rohit and Shikhar pair gave India quite simply lifted the side¡¯s morale and made the task for those coming in quite simpler.?
Can Gill, with his brisk cuts and elegant striking do something along the lines??
He¡¯s got the confidence. He¡¯s got the daring. If the ball is there to be hit, he¡¯ll go for it.?
With a tall frame and zero excess weight, he¡¯s got pretty much everything going for him.?
But the big question awaits a fine answer.?
Can the young man become the force to reckon with and give us more of that Gabba brilliance and the hailstorm of Hyderbad in what¡¯s to follow??
Perhaps the time has come for Shubman Gill to author the next big chapter for Indian cricket with his usual flair and dash of confidence. For as they say, when you¡¯re young the possibilities are endless!??
The writer is a freelance sports writer. The views expressed are author's own.