A brilliant century by Shubman Gill trumped up that by Virat Kohli in a last-over thriller between Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium that knocked RCB out of the IPL 2023.
On the back of Virat Kohli’s 101* off 61 balls, RCB piled up 197, a target that they needed to defend to proceed to the playoffs. This was Kohli’s back-to-back century in this season and his 7th overall, making him go past Chris Gayle for most centuries in the IPL.
Shubman Gill, too, rattled back-to-back centuries in this IPL to down RCB by 6 wickets. Gill scored 104* off 52 balls to take RCB home with 5 balls to spare, finishing the chase with a mighty sixer.
As RCB’s tournament came to a close, and Virat Kohli set to fly to London to kick-start his preparations for the WTC Final, the 34-year-old took to his social media to thank the RCB fans for their constant support.
In a heartfelt post on RCB’s group stage exit in IPL 2023, Virat Kohli wrote: “A season which had it’s moments but unfortunately we fell short of the goal. Disappointed but we must hold our heads high. To our loyal supporters, grateful for backing us every step of the way. A big thank you to the coaches, management and my teammates. We aim to be back stronger. @royalchallengersbangalore”
Replying to this post, Shubman Gill commented the KING emoji thrice to hail ‘KING’ Virat Kohli.
Here, check out how Shubman Gill gave his tribute to KING Virat Kohli:
Where did RCB lost the match vs GT?
After an opening stand of 67 runs between Kohli and Faf du Plessis, RCB lost their way and stumbled to 85/3, which then became 133/5. With wickets falling around and not much batting depth, Kohli had to slow down a bit and not play too risky shots.
Former SRH head coach Tom Moody reckoned while both Kohli and Gill reeled off superb centuries, it was the difference of sixes between them – Kohli hit only one six while slammed 8 sixes – that was a “significant difference” between the two innings.
“He (Gill) is such a special player, he really is. We have seen in all three formats in the last 12 months. Whether it’s the IPL or in Indian colours. He is such a delight to watch. He is just so composed at the crease. You look at his facial expression, you look at his body language, he looks so much in control. He has got the game,” Tom Moody said on ESPNCricinfo.
“Eight sixes! To me, that was the difference in the two hundreds. Both were brilliant hundreds. But Kohli only hit one six while Shubman Gill hit eight sixes. He ended up with a strike-rate of 200. That’s a significant difference. In a chasing situation, against a good bowling attack….hats off to him.”
Meanwhile, Gill and Gujarat Titans will be in action on Tuesday in Qualifier 1 against CSK in Chennai.
