Team India began their journey under the leadership of new captain Suryakumar Yadav with a brilliant win over Sri Lanka in the first T20I on Saturday (July 27). The opening match of the series was played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

India took several positives from the match and one of them was undoubtedly Shubman Gill’s quick knock. The young batsman has been receiving criticism from various quarters in recent times for his strike rate in T20s. While Shubman Gill has been scoring consistently, he has not managed to do so at a good strike rate.

It was probably one of the reasons why he failed to make it into last month’s T20 World Cup. After the disappointment of not being able to take part in the World Cup, the youngster received a major boost when the selectors and team management made it clear that he is an integral part of the T20I team by naming him vice-captain.

The right-handed batsman responded in style with a quickfire knock in the series opener against Sri Lanka. He wanted to play with the heavy hits from the start and scored 34 runs off just 16 balls with the help of 6 fours and 1 six. Shubman Gill also shared a 74-run stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal for the first wicket before being dismissed.

As expected, fans were quick to praise him on social media. And soon after receiving praise, Shubman Gill left fans in shock by recreating Rohit Sharma’s famous water bottle blunder. The Indian ODI and Test captain was involved in a similar incident in the past.

The incident occurred when Gill was sitting on the bench. He was fully focused on the game and forgot to remove the cap before trying to take a sip from the bottle. Gill quickly realised his mistake and removed the cap.

Check out the funny incident involving Shubman Gill:

Rohit Sharma 🤝 Shubman Gill
😂😂 image.twitter.com/8QOQwMpcqe

— yk.man (shub)🦸🏻 (@cdse_wanderln) July 27, 2024

As for the match, India thrashed Sri Lanka by 43 runs and took the series lead. Asked to bat first, the Men in Blue amassed 213/7 in 20 overs thanks to a brilliant half-century from captain Suryakumar Yadav. In reply, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 170. The second match is scheduled for Sunday (July 28).