Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting praised India batter Shubman Gill for his maiden ICC event hundred against Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy tie in Dubai while commenting on his promotion as the new ranked number one ODI batter. Ponting credited Gill’s game plan against Bangladesh, which saw the Men in Blue emerging victorious by six wickets.

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Gill was among the two heroes on the day against the Tigers, with seamer Mohammed Shami also making headlines for his first five-for of the tournament. The right-handed batter looked composed during his unbeaten 101-run knock in the chase, helping India pocket two crucial points in Group A. 

Commenting on him becoming the top batter in the One-Dayers, Ponting said the way he’s batting at the moment, Gill deserves to sit on the pedestal.

"He thoroughly deserves to be the number-one-ranked batter in the world at the moment. It's a great sign for India that he's got his account underway early in the first game of a Champions Trophy,” Ponting said while speaking to the ICC Review.

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Although Gill is yet to prove his mettle in Tests, Ponting feels the two white-ball formats are perfectly suited for his style of play. Punter also remarked on Gill’s rise as a big-game player (over the years), crediting his success in the IPL and captaincy experience there for this.

"He's been a very, very good international player for a number of years. He hasn't sort of transferred that over into Test Match cricket yet, but his white-ball cricket over the last three or four years has been outstanding. 

“Look, he's a big-game player as well. He's played really well in IPLs over the last couple of years, obviously being captain of his franchise there,” Ponting continued.

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'He scores at will against pacers'

Unlike several top-order batters worldwide, Gill takes on the fast bowlers like none other, attacking them for fun. Even against Bangladesh, he stepped out and slammed a few fours to the new ball quicks before impressing everyone by playing his natural game against the spin. 

Gill rotated the strike brilliantly while scoring on bad deliveries. Speaking on the same lines, Ponting noted,

“He can come out and be nice and aggressive early in the power play with the field up, get some boundaries away early by playing good, naturally aggressive cricketing shots. 

"He's not a big hitter, he doesn't try to do anything outside of his natural game, but he scores boundaries almost at will against fast bowling,” Ponting added.

Meanwhile, Gill will attract all eyeballs during India’s marquee clash against the tournament host and arch-rivals Pakistan in the next match this Sunday (Feb 23) in Dubai. 

(With inputs from agencies)