2016, particularly that summer in IPL, belonged to Virat Kohli. This season has already turned out as one such for Shubman Gill. The 23-year-old heir apparent with a similar bottom-handed technique is punishing bowlers with the same panache.
Gill, 23, has been the brightest star in IPL 2023, which like every year has thrown up a bunch of performers. The seasoned Faf du Plessis, the promising Yashasvi Jaiswal, the irresistible Suryakumar Yadav, all were poised to top the scoring charts. But the GT opener is on to something else. Yes, he will win the Orange Cap. But there are signs this is not the only peak he is here to conquer.
It’s in 2023 that he has truly flourished across all formats, with a Test hundred against Australia at home, an ODI double hundred and a first T20I century against New Zealand. In a fortnight, he will compete in the World Test Championship final against Australia at the Oval. “I hope he continues his form,” Rohit Sharma, wearing the hat of the India skipper, said though as Mumbai Indians skipper he had been at the receiving end of Gill’s stunning 129 on Friday in Qualifier 2.
Gill played in the WTC final two years back at Southampton when India lost to New Zealand. Then, he was still a work in progress and shin trouble didn’t help. He’s in a different space now.
There’s also the ODI World Cup at home in October-November. He has an outstanding record in the format (24 matches, 1,311 runs, Avg 65.55, 4x100s). ODIs give batters extra time. The form he is in, bowlers are struggling against him in T20s too.
KOHLI’S 2016 IPL
When Kohli amassed 973 runs in IPL 2016, his international numbers that year were equally staggering as the averages showed (75.93 in Tests, 92.37 in ODIs and 106.83 in T20Is. For Royal Challengers Bangalore, he hammered four hundreds. The sixes were flowing but his philosophy was simple. He wasn’t going to change his technique much for T20s. Having found his zone, runs were spilling over from one format to another. They simply couldn’t get him out in the early overs and he was always there for the death overs onslaught.
Gill’s approach is not too dissimilar. Currently on 851 runs, another 123 in the final and he will better Kohli’s record. It may sound like a lot for an IPL final, but if anyone can do it, Gill can. Few would have thought he would hit the second most sixes (33) in the competition.
“It’s not a conscious decision. But you want to keep growing as a batter,” he said about his six-hitting. “The belief is more important and that’s what I have had this year. It helps to have international runs under your belt. With me I know, once I start, I can keep going.”
FAVOURITE GROUND
Gill will be up against Chennai Super Kings, who stopped him on his tracks in Qualifier 1 on a slow Chepauk pitch. But the final is on GT’s home turf. Ahmedabad is to Gill what Chennai was to Sachin Tendulkar, Adelaide is to Kohli, Kolkata was to VVS Laxman and Mohammad Azharuddin and Lord’s was to Dilip Vengsarkar.
Perhaps it’s more a psychological thing. “I wish this was possible. I will carry it (Ahmedabad pitch) everywhere,” Gill said after his hundred against MI. The batter from Punjab knows the pace of the wicket and ground dimensions, and that helps him play to his strengths.
The Sunday showdown will be Gill’s third successive IPL final. In 2021, he was with KKR and facing questions over his inability to power on in the powerplay. CSK easily bettered them in the title clash. “Before playing for GT, I felt I was trying to play like someone who I wasn’t,” Gill told skipper Hardik Pandya in a chat. “You were the first person who came to me and said, ‘you play how you want to play’.”
From a young age, Gill has shown maturity beyond his years. With this freedom to excel and choose his own tempo, his T20 game has gone into overdrive. The Sunday test awaits.
