27th May 2023, Mumbai: Shubman Gill turned heads with his third century in four IPL matches in Gujarat Titans’ second Qualifier against Mumbai Indians helped the defending champions romp to their second consecutive final. Gill smacked 129 in 60 balls and led the Titans to a mammoth 233/3 batting first.
Interestingly, Gill really upped the ante after the end of the powerplay, which is when batters tend to slow down as the fielding restrictions are taken off. He hit seven fours and a whopping 10 sixes. “It is very difficult to find more adjectives apart from saying that the cricketing world is at his feet. The sky is the limit for him. That’s all I can say,” said India batting great and former captain Sunil Gavaskar on Star Sports.
Gavaskar said that it is the certainty of Gill’s feet movement that is helping him score these big runs. “And his feet really. The certainty of the feet movement. The certainty of playing forward and back, that’s so important and essential for a good batter. At the same time, keep your balance as well and that’s what he does,” he said.
Gill came into the IPL on the back of some extraordinary form in all formats of international cricket. Gavaskar had previously told Gill, after the latter scored a gritty 128 in India’s fourth Test earlier this year, that he hopes to see the young opener score “8000, 10,000, 15,000 runs” in the longest format of the game. Gavaskar now says that if Gill maintains his feet movement, The runs are going to flow for him.
“If he keeps doing that, runs are going to flow. Because there is a correctness about his cricket and a correctness about his batting. You sometimes feel like he has played across the line. He hasn’t really played across the line. He has played at the very last moment. He hasn’t been wild trying to play across the line.
“This is the third century he has got in this IPL. He has improved with every innings. Now he has got 129, the highest score in this year’s IPL. So the sky is the limit and he is going up and up. So that’s good news for not just for Gujarat Titans, but for Indian cricket,” said Gavaskar.