Shubman Gill has been talked about as the batter of the future for some time, but in Guwahati on Wednesday, he produced an innings that belonged firmly to the present. The India captain smashed the fastest double hundred in men’s ODI cricket, reaching the landmark in 117 balls against West Indies in the second ODI and becoming only the second batter after Rohit Sharma to score more than one double hundred in the format.
IND vs WI, 2nd ODI: UPDATES
Gill took the record away from his India teammate Ishan Kishan, who had scored a 126-ball double hundred against Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2022. Rohit remains the only batter to have scored three ODI double hundreds, while Gill now has two after his first came against New Zealand in Hyderabad in 2023.
FASTEST ODI DOUBLE HUNDREDS
- Shubman Gill: 117 balls vs West Indies, Guwahati, 2026
- Ishan Kishan: 126 balls vs Bangladesh, Chattogram, 2022
- Glenn Maxwell: 128 balls vs Afghanistan, Wankhede, 2023
- Pathum Nissanka: 136 balls vs Afghanistan, Pallekele, 2024
- Chris Gayle: 138 balls vs Zimbabwe, Canberra, 2015
Gill had already made his intentions clear long before he reached his double hundred. He brought up his 11th ODI century from only 62 balls, making it his third successive hundred in the 50-over format. In the process, he broke Rohit’s record for the fastest ODI century by an Indian captain. Rohit had reached his hundred from 63 balls against Afghanistan during the 2023 World Cup.
The century also took Gill to 11 ODI hundreds in only 68 innings, making him the third-fastest batter to reach the mark in men’s ODI cricket. Hashim Amla had needed 64 innings, while Quinton de Kock reached 11 hundreds in 65 innings.
Gill had started the innings with 14 from his first 11 balls, but once he settled in, the tempo changed quickly. He reached his fifty in 37 balls and then tore into the West Indies attack, scoring his next 56 runs from only 29 deliveries.
Keemo Paul, Roston Chase and Alzarri Joseph were among the bowlers who came under pressure as Gill repeatedly found the boundary. Yet there was no extravagant stroke when the moment arrived. Facing Vitel Lawes, he worked the ball towards long-on and set off for the single that took him to 200.
Halfway through the run, Gill jumped and fist-pumped before completing it. He then took off his helmet, placed it on the handle of his bat and raised it towards his teammates and the crowd. The celebration had echoes of Chris Gayle’s familiar gesture after reaching major milestones.
Inside the Indian dressing room, the players applauded their captain, with Ruturaj Gaikwad among those who came forward to embrace Gill and congratulate him.
Gill’s double hundred also carried significance beyond the speed with which he reached it. He became only the second batter to score an ODI double hundred while chasing. Maxwell was the first, producing his unbeaten 201 against Afghanistan at the 2023 World Cup in Mumbai in one of the most remarkable innings seen in the format.
Gill’s innings was built on a huge opening stand with Rohit, who once again provided the perfect foil at the other end. The pair added 255 runs, India’s second-highest opening partnership in men’s ODIs, before Rohit was dismissed for 101 from 75 balls. His innings contained 10 fours and six sixes and came at a strike rate of 134.67.
Only Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly have put together a bigger opening partnership for India. The former India pair added 258 runs against Kenya in Paarl in 2001.
Rohit and Gill have now scored 3,058 runs together in 47 innings as an opening pair, at an average of 66.47, with nine century partnerships and 16 fifty-plus stands.
But on a night when Rohit produced another hundred, it was Gill who took the chase into territory rarely seen in ODI cricket. His 62-ball century had already broken a record held by his opening partner, before his 117-ball double hundred took him past Kishan and into a list previously dominated by Rohit, Maxwell and a handful of the format’s greatest hitters.
The manner in which Gill reached the landmark was fitting for an innings marked by confidence from the start. With India deep into the chase, he smiled, asked for the heavy roller and continued to attack as though the target was within reach.
When the single off Lawes took him to 200, the helmet raised above his bat became the defining image of an innings in which Gill combined control with extraordinary aggression.
– Ends
