Bold-play concert: Gill symphony enthralls thousands in Ahmedabad

BY all accounts, the Coldplay concert at the Narendra Modi Stadium in the last week of January was box office.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN @Ahmedabad

With the British band playing some of their greatest hits - Fix You, Yellow and Viva la Vida - the more than one lakh who had turned up from all India went back with a smile plastered on their faces. That Jasprit Bumrah made an unannounced appearance sometime during the show only added to the vibes.

On Wednesday, some three weeks after Chris Martin had got the stadium grooving, it was the turn of Shubman Gill to produce a boundary-hitting masterclass in front of fans who are used to seeing the opener bat like this on a regular basis (he skippers the Gujarat franchise in the Indian Premier League).

By the time he was done, he produced a timely reminder as to why the 50-over format is his meat and drink. In the process, he also showed his employers why they were initially wrong to pencil him in the middle-order not only for the series against England but also for the upcoming Champions Trophy in Dubai (as per the original plan, Yashasvi Jaiswal was going to be Rohit Sharma's partner up top).