India pull off their highest-ever run chase in 2nd ODI against WI; Shubman Gill smashes fastest double century

India on Wednesday pulled off a phenomenal run-chase in their second ODI match against West Indies—their fastest and highest-ever in the history of the format.

This comes despite West Indies notching their highest-ever total of 405/7 in a match that saw a series of records broken, particularly by Captain Shubman Gill, who is now part of an elite club of double-century scorers in ODIs.

What this means is that the Indian ODI captain has now become only the second Indian batter after Rohit Sharma to hit multiple ODI double centuries.

Captain Gill’s career-best score at the Guwahati match saw him smash 223 runs to take India to an 8-wicket win, and a whopping 39 balls to spare—a 2-0 win in the three-match series against West Indies, with a match in hand as well.

In reaching 200 off just 117 balls, Gill has broken his compatriot Ishan Kishan’s record for the fastest ODI double century, which the latter had achieved in 2022, when he scored a 200 in 126 balls against Bangladesh. Gill has also become the highest run-scoring captain in the ODIs.

Rohit Sharma's own century was also in focus, which contributed to his 255-run opening stand with Gill that helped India reach their sixth-highest ODI total and break their previous ODI run-chase record of 360 against Australia in 2013.

The initial challenge for India had been to pull off their first-ever 400-plus chase, for which Rohit and Gill proved that they were more than ready.

Along the way, Rohit reached 12,000 ODI runs, becoming only the seventh batter and third Indian after Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli to reach this milestone, before reaching another ODI hundred with a little hop and jump celebration. Gill's earlier century—his 11th ODI century in just 62 balls—also became his fastest in the format.

The match itself was special, as it was the first one in the history of the ODIs to see five centuries hit—two from Gill, and the rest from John Campbell, Shai Hope, and Amir Jangoo for the visitors that had taken them past 400.

After Campbell's initial push, it had been Hope and Jangoo that kept West Indies in complete control through the middle and late overs, maintaining a scoring rate of around eight per over.