Ravi Shastri, former India head coach, was full of praise for Gujarat titans (GT) opener Shubman Gill for his match-winning knock against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 opener. On Friday, March 31, the defending champions defeated the four-time champions by five wickets in the first match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Shastri believes Gill has realized he is a world-class player and it is now up to him to be consistent in the games going forward. In the tournamnet opener, MS Dhoni and Co. set a 179-run target for GT, with opener Ruturaj Gaikwad scoring 92 off 50 balls. Meanwhile, Gill smashed a stunning half century (63 off 36 balls) as the defending champions overhauled the target with five wickets in 19.2 overs.
"He has an all-round game against both spin and pace. He has realized that he is a world-class player, the entire world knows that, and that now it is up to him to show consistency,” Shastri said during a post-match discussion on Star Sports.
The former India head coach then praised Gill's method of scoring runs. The 60-year-old asserted that the runs scored by the youngster were not solely based on fours and sixes. He stated that when Gill is unable to score fours and sixes, he opts for singles or doubles, thereby proving that he is has a good sense of running between the wickets.
"The biggest difference I have felt in his game is that he is playing very few dot balls. As Irfan Pathan said, when he is unable to hit boundaries and sixes, he takes singles and doubles,” the 60-year-old added.
Gill plays Santner extremely well: Shastri
Ravi Shastri lauded Shubman Gill's strategy against CSK's Mitchell Santner, stating he played the experienced bowler extremely well.
"He is very good against spin-off both front and back foot. Santner is a very experienced bowler but he plays Santner extremely well - you would have seen that from the New Zealand series until now. He doesn't commit, takes his chance against Santner on the back foot, and goes down the track very quickly when the ball is given little air,” Shastri said.
Gujarat will face Delhi Capitals in their next outing. Read the entire IPL 2023 schedule here.
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