Former Indian player Virender Sehwag has come up with an interesting piece of advice for Gujarat Titans’ star opener Shubman Gill, who has been struggling to score runs consistently in the ongoing 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League.
Gill’s troubles continued to pile up in IPL 2022 as he was dismissed on 9 off 6 balls against Punjab Kings at the DY Patil Stadium on Tuesday. Though, he looked in good touch and got off the mark with a boundary, however, his innings were cut short by a bullet throw by Rishi Dhawan within the Powerplay overs.
He had registered a duck in the first game of Gujarat Titans against Lucknow Super Giants but thereafter hit two blistering half-centuries – 84 runs against Delhi Capitals followed by 96 runs against Punjab Kings. In the last 10 innings, he has only scored 269 runs, striking at 137.59.
As Gujarat Titans are gearing up to face Mumbai Indians in their next match, Virender Sehwag advised Shubman Gill to play at least 10 overs while not rushing himself. He also asked the franchise to let Gill play his natural game as the opening batter. Sehwag also showed confidence in Gujarat Titans’ lowed middle-order to accelerate the innings. He said:
“They (Gujarat Titans) should simply tell him – ‘play the game that suits you, we need runs from you. Whether you score at a strike rate of 120 or 150, just score runs’. If Gill bats for the first seven to eight overs, then their big-hitters like David Miller and Rahul Tewatia come into the game,”
He added:
“If they walk in early, as they did in the last game, they struggle because they are unsure of whether to attack or defend. Even if Gujarat are 80 after 10 overs, their batters have the ability to score 120 in the remaining 10 overs,”
Further, Sehwag also suggested that the Hardik Pandya-led side should avoid batting first if they win the toss. He said:
“GT must not experiment with batting first. This (Brabourne) is a small ground and there are greater chances of a total being chased down. They must make well-thought-out decisions from here and aim to finish in the top two. They should not take any game lightly,”
Gujarat and Mumbai will be locking their horns for the first time in IPL history on Friday at the Brabourne Stadium.
