Shubman Gill shows why he is so special

Often deemed not fast enough, Gill displays his T20 craft by romping to a 46-ball 87.

Ten fifties in 58 IPL innings is nothing to write home about. The strike rate wasn’t impressive. There was a nagging technical issue as well, the bat coming down in an angle and not straight, creating a gap between bat and pad. But Shubman Gill is still considered special. A fluent 84 off 46 balls on Saturday showed why.

Shubman Gill. (IPL 2022)

On a Pune track that had the fast bowlers buzzing, Gill powered from 15 off 10 balls to 47 off 30 before providing the final flourish in the form of two consecutive boundaries off Khaleel Ahmed, a six off Kuldeep Yadav and two sixes off Axar Patel before holing out to deep midwicket. For the first time in his IPL career, Gill has a strike rate of above 150 (171.43).

For an opener in a high intensity tournament like IPL, you either score at the rate of knots or compensate for slower batting with bigger knocks around which the innings can be built. For a long time, Gill was struggling to do either.

It was also probably why Kolkata Knight Riders didn’t retain him ahead of this year’s mega auction. Gujarat Titans showed faith in him, and within two matches Gill did what he was always supposed to do—score big and score fast. “This is the Shubman Gill we all want to see,” Titans captain Hardik Pandya said at the post-match presentation. “The way he is batting, the kind of confidence he is carrying, it's going to rub on to all the batters and help us going forward.”

Gill scored at the rate of 182.60. To put that in perspective with his overall career, Gill had a frustrating strike rate of 118.9 for KKR last season and 117.96 in 2020. In 2019, KKR tried him from No 1 to No 7 but he looked the most assured opening. That he wanted to force the issue in a fresh start was apparent in Titans’ first match when he charged down the track first ball, though he miscued Dushmantha Chameera to Deepak Hooda at point. On Saturday, Gill waited, planned and executed his innings to perfection.

He didn’t have to risk it all. Delhi Capitals probably did him a favour when Shardul Thakur gave him a short-pitched dolly outside off-stump which Gill pulled wide of mid-on. Another boundary, again off Thakur but this time a cut that beat backward point, meant Gill was off the blocks with two of his most convincing strokes. Then there were the singles and twos—through point, behind square-leg, driven down long-on or long-off, dissecting midwicket and pretty soon Gill’s wagon wheel had runs in every section barring the third man region.

“It felt good,” said Gill after the Titans innings. “It felt good to contribute runs for myself and the team. I didn't realise that (about his low dot ball percentage) but that was the plan—to keep rotating the strike and take singles whenever possible.”

Gill isn’t the most dashing T20 opener but Saturday’s innings was a convincing reminder of his ability to find runs. That first slog-swept six off Patel wasn’t the easiest one considering the risk involved in going across to a spinner who bowls in the 90s and doesn’t extract much turn. And when he shuffled across the stumps as Ahmed steamed in, deftly getting inside the line and lapping the ball over Pant, it was nothing short of spectacular. This is what Gill looks like when he is all warmed up. This is why he is rated so highly.