Shubman Gill celebrates Ranji Trophy return with century: Details
What's the story
Team India's Shubman Gill has made a strong comeback in domestic cricket with a century in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. After a disappointing performance on the Australian tour, Gill returned to home turf and took up captaincy for Punjab against Karnataka. After missing out on his first outing with the bat, he demonstrated resilience and skill in his second innings.
Comeback
Gill's 2nd innings performance
In the first innings against Karnataka, Gill was dismissed for mere four runs. However, he made a strong comeback in the second innings under difficult circumstances. Opening for his team Punjab, he scored a century and marked his return to form. This performance is especially important as Team India will play a three-match ODI series against England after a five-match T20I series.
Century details
Gill's century: A detailed look
Gill's century arrived at a critical juncture when Punjab had lost six wickets for a mere 84 runs in their second innings. He held his ground and completed his century off 159 balls, smashing three sixes and 14 fours in his innings. This was Gill's 14th first-class century and he achieved it in his very first match of this Ranji Trophy season.
Match overview
Match summary
In the first innings of this match, Punjab, led by Gill, were bundled out for a paltry 55 runs. In reply, Karnataka posted 475 runs in their first innings and took a mammoth lead of 420 runs. Despite his century, Gill was dismissed after scoring 102 off 171 balls in the second innings.
Return
Gill's awaited Ranji return
Gill's last Ranji Trophy appearance came in June 2022, when he played a quarterfinal match against Madhya Pradesh in Bengaluru. He scored 9 and 19 runs respectively in the game, which saw Punjab lose by 10 wickets. The red-ball tournament is important from him as the batter had a hard time in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
Career
Here are his FC stats
With this hundred, Gill has raced to 4,587 runs across 61 First-Class games at an average of 47-plus, as per ESPNcricinfo. This was his 14th hundred in the format as his tally also includes 19 fifties. 1,893 of his runs have come in Test matches for India. However, his average in this regard comes down to 35.05