Shubman Gill smashed a 60-ball 129 as Gujarat Titans beat Mumbai Indians by 62 runs to enter the Indian Premier League final here on Friday.
GT will take on Chennai Super Kings in the summit clash here on Sunday. Gill’s explosive knock ensured GT reached 233 for three after being sent into bat in the Qualifier 2.
Chasing a mammoth target, MI never looked in the hunt despite Suryakumar Yadav’s 38-ball 61 and were eventually bowled out for 171 in 18.2 overs. For GT, Mohit Sharma (5/10) was the pick of the bowlers, while Rashid Khan (2/33) also did his bit with the ball.
Shubman Gill | Player of the Match: For me, it is playing ball to ball, over to over. The over where I hit three sixes gave me the momentum to go big. That’s when I realised it could be my day. It was a good wicket to bat on as well. Not a conscious decision, you keep inventing as a batter but for me the belief is more important. I am coming off a good international season as well. Had a good season last time as well. When I start well, I feel confident I can score well. From the last WI tour, I think I have shifted a gear, I got injured before the last IPL but I have been working on my game. I have worked on a few areas and made technical changes ahead of the NZ series after the T20I World Cup. Expectations are something that follow you outside the ropes, but once you step on the field it is all about trying how to contribute for the team. I think this was probably my best innings so far in the IPL.
Hardik Pandya | GT captain: I think a lot of hard work goes behind the guys doing well. They keep practising, that reflects. I think the clarity and confidence he is carrying is amazing. (On Shubman) Today’s innings was one of the finest, he never looked rushed. It felt like someone was throwing balls and he was hitting. He will be a superstar in international and franchise cricket. I do have conversations with him, I try that people feed off my energy. Everyone takes responsibility for themselves. (On Rashid) I think we’ve spoken enough about him. He’s been the man I can rely on when the team is in a tough situation. We have to play good cricket, put in our 100%. Knockouts could go either way, but very excited for the final.
Mohit Sharma: I was a bit lucky to get five wickets so quickly. The ball was skidding nicely, but the way SKY and Tilak were batting we felt the game could slip if they didn’t get out. I had decided that if I am bowling against SKY, I won’t experiment much. We had a meeting where we discussed that we mustn’t try too much against Surya, it makes things easier for him. So the idea was to bowl length balls. Even if we get hit for six sixes it doesn’t matter, because we felt that is the length most difficult for him to play his shots. The match wasn’t over at that stage, but that wicket (Surya’s wicket) meant that we were in the game. There was a big relief to take that wicket. I felt we can visualize the final only after that last wicket, we here at GT have won and lost games from baffling situations before, so it is never over till it is over.