Former India batter Wasim Jaffer showered praises on Shubhman Gill, who amassed a scintillating double ton against New Zealand, saying that "making 208 out of 350 is an outstanding effort."
Gill scored a sublime 208 for India in the first ODI in Hyderabad as India beat New Zealand by 12 runs on Wednesday. The 23-year-old's phenomenal knock saw him write himself into the record books as the youngest player in the history of men's ODIs to score a double hundred.
Gill's 208 is the joint-ninth highest individual score in a Men's ODI and he becomes one of just eight players in history to have reached the milestone in the format. "Shubman played one of the most outstanding knocks.
Somebody as young as Shubman to get that double-hundred and show that much maturity, especially with Kohli and everybody else getting out," Jaffer told ESPNCricinfo. "I think apart from Shubman Gill, Bracewell, and Santner, everybody struggled on that pitch.
No Indian batter got more than 34. Up until Bracewell started hitting, it looked as if it would be hard to come in and hit the ball straight away," he added. The 44-year-old also said that if Gill had not batted through then India would not have gotten 349 on the board.
"Had Tom Latham affected that stumping or taken that catch, India would have struggled to win the game. He was on 120-odd then and to restabilize his innings and get a double-hundred, was a mature play from him.
Making 208 out of 350 is an outstanding effort. If he hadn't batted through, India wouldn't have gotten to that score and it would've been difficult, given how New Zealand responded," said Jaffer.
After going 1-0 up, India will play the second ODI on January 21 at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur.