Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes that Shubman Gill, the star opener of the Gujarat Titans (GT), has the potential to surpass Virat Kohli’s record for the most runs scored in a single season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Kohli’s outstanding performance in IPL 2016 saw him score 973 runs, including four centuries, leading his team, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), to the tournament’s final.
Shastri emphasizes that only opening batsmen have a slim chance of breaking Kohli’s record. He opines that if Gill can maintain consistency and score big in 3-4 games, he could be in the race to surpass Kohli’s long-standing record. Shastri expressed his views on the possibility of Gill breaking Kohli’s record during an interview with Star Sports.
“I feel, it is Subhman Gill because he is in good form and also because he plays top of the order. The pitches are good, so if he can score 80-100 runs consecutively in two or three innings, then at that point of time only he will already have 300-400 runs. According to me, it is very difficult to break the record, because 900 plus runs is huge but one thing is opening batsmen will get two extra matches and two extra innings, so opening batsmen can only break this record if it is possible.”
Ravi Shastri on the inclusion of Vijay Shankar in India’s 2019 World Cup squad
During Vijay Shankar’s selection in the 2019 ODI World Cup squad, Ravi Shastri was serving as India’s head coach. The decision to choose Shankar over Ambati Rayudu, who was considered the leading candidate for the No.4 position, raised several eyebrows.
Shastri attempted to clarify that the Indian team required a seam-bowling all-rounder in case of an injury concern with Hardik Pandya. He said
“In my opinion, the selectors thinking was such that, just like his innings that we have seen in this year’s IPL, that kind of innings plus his bowling is a big factor in his getting selected. He has the talent, he has worked hard to get back to his best, and you know, at that time even Hardik was facing a lot of injury issues, so India was looking for a player who could replace Hardik and give at least two or three overs to the team and bat well.”
Shankar’s performance in the 2019 ODI World Cup was poor as he could only score 58 runs in three matches before an injury forced him out of the competition.