NEW DELHI: Shubman Gill's impressive work ethics and batting prowess have certainly elevated him as one of the best cricketers in the current era. His teammate, Vijay Shankar, acknowledges Gill's exceptional ability to find gaps during the powerplay, which has contributed to his success.
In the IPL this season, Gill has been a standout performer for the Gujarat Titans, showcasing his remarkable skills with the bat. He has achieved the remarkable feat of scoring three centuries in just four matches, solidifying his position at the top of the run-scoring charts and earning him the prestigious 'Orange Cap' with 851 runs.
One of Gill's most memorable innings in the IPL was when he smashed an extraordinary 129 runs off just 60 balls against the Mumbai Indians on Friday. His remarkable display of batting prowess, which included 10 sixes and seven fours, put tremendous pressure on the Mumbai Indians' bowlers as they attempted to chase down a target of 234 runs. Ultimately, the Mumbai Indians were bowled out for 171 runs in 18.2 overs, with Gill's sensational batting leading the way for the Gujarat Titans.
As a result of his outstanding performances, the Gujarat Titans have secured a spot in the IPL final against the Chennai Super Kings, which will take place in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Gill's consistent and exceptional performances, along with his strong work ethic, have undoubtedly contributed to his status as one of the best cricketers in the game currently.
"He has amazing work ethics, that's why he is one of the best cricketers right now," Shankar said during the press-conference.
"He is hitting those sixes like he's batting in Test cricket. The way he practices is something that's important. Every practice session he goes out there and does what he wants, he practices with purpose. Everytime he turns up for a game, it's so lovely to see him switch on from ball one."
Gill has joint second-highest sixes, 33, in this IPL and Shankar said the young opener is batting at his best at the moment.
1/10:IPL 2023: Gill ton helps GT beat MI to reach final
TNN
2/10:Shubman Gill
<p>Red-hot Shubman Gill smashed his third century of the IPL season to help defending champions Gujarat Titans hammer Mumbai Indians by 62 runs on Friday and set up a final against Chennai Super Kings. </p>PTI
3/10:126 off 60
<p>Gill's 126 off 60 balls powered Gujarat to 233/3, a total they defended by bowling out five-time winners Mumbai for 171 in 18.2 overs in Qualifier 2 which started late due to rain in Ahmedabad. </p>IANS
4/10:10 sixes
<p>Gill hit 10 sixes in his knock and put on a second-wicket stand of 138 with Sai Sudharsan (43), to tear into the MI attack. </p>IANS
5/10:Orange Cap
<p>Gill became the leading batsman this season with 851 runs, surpassing RCB skipper Faf du Plessis (730), before he reached his IPL best and the top score of this season. </p>ANI
6/10:Costly chance
<p>Opener Gill made the most of a reprieve on 30 when Tim David dropped him off Chris Jordan. </p>PTI
7/10:49-ball ton
<p>The 23-year-old Gill brought up his fifty in 32 balls and then exploded to smash sixes and reach his hundred in 49 balls. </p>IANS
8/10:Gill departs
<p>Gill finally fell to Akash Madhwal and Sudharsan retired out before skipper Hardik Pandya (28*), and Rashid Khan finished the innings with 19 runs in the final over. </p>PTI
9/10:Ishan Kishan
<p>Mumbai's worries increased when Ishan Kishan was injured by team-mate Jordan's elbow and was later replaced by concussion substitute Vishnu Vinod. </p>Getty Images
10/10:Mohit Sharma
<p>Mohit Sharma took five wickets for Gujarat after a valiant 61 by Suryakumar Yadav. </p>ANI"He is able to do both - hit sixes and find the gaps in the powerplay, which I think is his biggest strength. He can hit those sixes.
"There was an innings where he scored 90 (101 against SRH) and had just one six. He has the ability to do both and he knows when to use what, which is a highlight of a top cricketer," Shankar said.
A total of 233 was a bit too high: Boucher
MI head coach Mark Boucher expressed his disappointment with his team's performance and the challenge posed by the Gujarat Titans' formidable score of 233/3. Boucher believed that allowing the opposition to reach such a high total was a significant hurdle for his side to overcome.
To compound matters, MI also suffered a setback due to injuries to key batsmen Ishan Kishan and Cameron Green. Kishan encountered an unfortunate incident during the first half of the game when he collided with his teammate Chris Jordan, resulting in an eye injury. As a consequence, Kishan was unable to participate in Mumbai's chase, and he was replaced by Vishnu Vinod as a concussion substitute for the remainder of the match.
"Look, 233 was a bit too high, I felt. Probably 25-30 runs a bit too much. It was a bit unsettling because we were unsure how Ishan would go," Boucher said.
"Nehal, we knew that he could do the job opening the batting. In the practise games that we played, he opened the batting fairly aggressively which we really needed someone to go out and play tonight, it did not come off for us.
"In T20 cricket you got to adapt to conditions but today we were thrown a curveball, unsettled us a bit, we lost Nehal early and Greeny also unsettled us, got a blow to the arm and he came off. But thankfully he was able to go back out, bat fast and put us in a decent position up until the 15th over.
"Unfortunately we just lost too many wickets and that was our downfall from the batting perspective. If one of our batters was in there, batted right until the end, it might have been a lot closer than the end result."
The South African said despite losing two of their primary bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer, his side did their best to fight the fire.
"You can look at Bumrah not being available, Jofra not being available, they are quality players. If you are losing out on your quality players, yes it's going to leave a hole," Boucher said.
"I thought that the guys that we brought in, they did their best in a situation where they probably weren't selected upfront. So they were brought into the competition maybe a little bit out of season for them. To lose two players like that, that was difficult but we gave our best and we weren't good enough."
Boucher said it was a tough season for MI's bowlers who conceded totals in excess of 200 four times in a row in the league round, but added that the batters did a great job in chasing down big targets successfully, especially at their home ground Wankhede Stadium.
"We've got quite an inexperienced bowling line-up. But we had some good chats and I think we improved as the competition went along. But to look at it just because we went over 200, we also chased a lot of scores over 200," he said.
"I feel sorry for the bowlers at times, going for scores over 200 can dent your confidence a bit, which probably did to a couple of our bowlers. But we were chasing scores down of 200-plus. So you have to look at it in a different context."
(With PTI inputs)
