It has taken close to four years but India batter Shubman Gill has officially announced his arrival in ODI cricket by becoming the joint second-fastest batter to complete 1,000 runs. Gill, who has been among the runs in the last six months or so, entering an elite list not comprising of any other Indian cricketer has doubtlessly raised his stock to another level.

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Opening the batting with captain Rohit Sharma (34), Gill continued from where he left in the recently concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka. As a result, a comparatively inexperienced New Zealand’s bowling attack found it difficult to contain him. Gill, who had admitted to missing opportunities of scoring daddy hundreds against Sri Lanka, played flawlessly against the new ball in the first powerplay.

It was in the 19th over of the Indian innings when Gill received a reprieve from New Zealand captain Tom Latham behind the wickets. Latham not only dropped a catch off all-rounder Michael Bracewell but also missed a run-out chance. In the same over, Gill slogged the off-spinner to reach the 50-run mark.

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Not looking to give away another start in international start, Gill thrived in spite of wickets falling at the other end. A determined effort from the 23-year old player saw him bringing up a third ODI century. It was on the third delivery of the 30th over when Gill ran a single off New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner to complete a personal milestone.

106 runs short of completing 1,000 ODI runs before this match, Gill equaled Pakistan batter Imam-ul-Haq’s record of scoring 1,000 runs in 19 ODI innings. Both Imam and Gill are only behind another Pakistan batter in Fakhar Zaman in this prestigious list.

Quickest 1000 runs in ODI history full list

As far as only fastest Indian batters to score 1,000 ODI runs are concerned, Gill has left behind former India captain Virat Kohli by quite some margin.

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