Remaining true to his form, Gujarat Titans (GT) opener Shubman Gill played a number of dazzling strokes against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mohali, including a couple of brilliantly-executed lofted strokes over cover for fours off spinners and a spectacular pull shot six to Rabada.
However, the tempo at which Shubman Gill batted after the powerplay and till he reached his half-century has irked many, including former India opener Virender Sehwag, who is unhappy and disappointed in the GT opener slowing down while nearing his half-century, and because of that, the game went much deeper than GT would have wanted.
Chasing 154, and after the quickfire start they got in the powerplay – GT were 52/1 after 5 overs – they shockingly allowed PBKS bowlers to make a comeback and stretch the game till the last over. So much that PBKS even had a chance to avoid a defeat, and perhaps take it to Super Over, but ‘ICEMAN’ Rahul Tewatia hit a scoop/lap shot over fine leg when 4 runs were needed off 2 balls.
Shubman Gill was 20(13) at the end of the powerplay and was 35 off 22 balls at one stage, but he took 18 more deliveries to get to his fifty, and this phase also saw Hardik Pandya struggle with the bat.
Shubman Gill’s acceleration came after he reached fifty: Sehwag
Speaking with Cricbuzz, Virender Sehwag said that Shubman Gill will get a slap back from cricket if he thinks of a personal milestone, and this game should be a big lesson for the 23-year-old.
“He scored 67 off 49 balls but when did he reach his fiifty? He reached his fifty off maybe 41-42 balls so in 7-8 balls he has scored 17 more runs. The accelration came there, after he had reached his fifty. If even that had not happened then GT would have been chasing maybe 17 instead of 7 in the last over,” Sehwag said.
“You can’t think let me score a fifty and we will anyway win the match. This is cricket. The moment you think about your own performance (instead of the team), you will get a tight slap from cricket. You can’t think like that. If he had showed the same intent and played at close to a strike rate of 200 when he was nearing fifty then he could have reached his milestone a lot earlier and save more deliveries for his team,” Sehwag added.
Captain Hardik Pandya, too, admitted that the chase was left for too later than he would have liked.
“To be very honest I would not appreciate for the game to go this deep. There was definitely a lot for us to learn from this game… It would have been a tough pill to swallow if the game had gone the other side. I would like to finish the game earlier, not a big fan of taking it to the last over,” Pandya said.
With this win – their 3rd in 4 matches – Gujarat Titans are at the 3rd spot in the points table. Shubman Gill is currently the 5th leading run-scorer in the IPL 2023 with 183 runs.
