“I surrender to you completely” - Former India batter forced to do U-turn after Shubman Gill’s heroics in IND vs ENG 2025 1st ODI

Former India batter Kris Srikkanth lauded Shubman Gill for his brilliant knock in the opening ODI between India and England in Nagpur on Thursday, February 6. Srikkanth, who criticised Gill and questioned his place in the XI in the past, was forced to take a U-turn after the right-hander's heroics in Nagpur.

Talking on his YouTube channel 'Cheeky Cheeka', Srikkanth heaped praise on Shubman Gill, terming his knock as 'intelligent' and 'mature'. He also congratulated the Indian ODI vice-captain for winning the 'Player of the Match' award.

“He played a brilliant knock. Today I surrender to you completely. Shubman Gill played a very mature knock. More than mature, it was an intelligent knock. Shreyas Iyer had done all the work and had handed over the innings to Gill. He didn’t have to do much. He took his own time and did not go for big shots, especially against Adil Rashid. He played his normal game. Congrats Gill for getting the Player of the Match (POTM) award,” Srikkanth said.

The former Indian batter had earlier slammed Gill's inclusion in the ODI team due to his poor returns in his last few innings in the format.

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Shubman Gill shines with match-winning fifty in 1st ODI against England

Bowling first, India put up a spirited comeback after England's early onslaught to bowl the visitors out for just 248 runs from 47.4 overs. In reply, India were in a slightly precarious position early on, losing both Yashasvi Jaiswal (15) and skipper Rohit Sharma (2) early.

However, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer joined forces to bring the hosts back into the game. While Iyer slammed a quickfire fifty (59 off 36 balls), Gill held the fort at the other end.

He ensured that he played a long innings and got India to a position from where they could not lose the game. Gill scored 87 runs off 96 balls including 14 boundaries, which helped the Men in Blue win the game by four wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Gill is also the vice-captain of the ODI side and a performance like this will boost his confidence for the rest of the series and the upcoming Champions Trophy.