Gujarat Titans (GT) opener Shubman Gill has been outstanding with the bat for his team in the current Indian Premier League (IPL). He has scored 851 runs in 16 matches with an average of 60.79 and a strike rate of 156.43. This season, the 23-year-old has three tonnes and four half-centuries on his name.
Gill passed Faf Du Plessis (730 runs) to become the highest run-scorer in IPL 2023 with his third century in Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The right-handed batter smashed seven fours and ten sixes as GT scored 233/3 and then held MI to 171.
Gill will now be seen in action when Gujarat face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2023 final on Sunday, May 28 in Ahmedabad. He played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from 2018 to 2021 before joining GT for the 2022 season.
In retrospect, we examine three issues that Gill might have remedied for KKR if he had been kept by the team.
1) Shubman Gill would have provided stability at the top of the order
One of KKR’s issues in IPL 2023 was a lack of consistency from their opening pair. They attempted several combinations at the top of the order, but except for Jason Roy, none of the others was able to make a meaningful difference.
N Jagadeesan had a disappointing season, whereas Roy scored 285 runs in eight matches at an average of 35.63 and a strike rate of 151.59. In six matches, he scored 89 runs at an average of 14.83 and a strike rate of 109.87.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was also unreliable. He scored 227 runs in 11 matches, with an average of 20.64 and a strike rate of 133.52. He was even promoted to the middle order at the end of KKR’s IPL 2023 campaign, but his luck did not improve.
Mandeep Singh and Venkatesh Iyer were also attempted at the top of the order but had little success.
Gill’s presence at the top of the order would have offered batting solidity. The franchise would have enjoyed the security of knowing they had at least one reliable starter. This was not the case for them in IPL 2023.
2) He would have shifted gears depending on the situation
The lack of acceleration in the middle overs was another area where KKR suffered in IPL 2023. Because they frequently got off to a bad start, they had to be cautious after the powerplay.
KKR gained momentum in games where Jason Roy and Venkatesh Iyer performed effectively. But, for the most part, Rinku Singh was attempting to create a match out of thin air. Despite this, he still managed to win a handful of games for his team with some spectacular batting performances.e
Gill’s presence would have made a major impact since he has been batting for 20 overs in the games he has been watching. The manner in which the elegance-personified batter has performed has been astounding.
Looking at his batting graph in Qualifier 2 against the Mumbai Indians, the right-handed batter was 37 after facing 26 balls. However, in the following four overs, he went totally wild and raced to 100 off 49 balls.
Gill is almost unstoppable when he gets going, and he was exactly the type of guy KKR required to bolster their batting.
3) Would have allowed KKR more flexibility with overseas options
Because KKR chose Roy and Gurbaz as openers, they only had two additional overseas choices in their starting XI. Sunil Narine and Andre Russell of the West Indies were automatic picks for the other two foreign places.
Again, Gill’s presence may have made a significant impact. The kid starting the batting would have offered Kolkata more choices for international players. Tim Southee, David Wiese, and Lockie Ferguson may have played more matches for KKR in the IPL 2023.
Gill scored 1417 runs in 58 matches for Kolkata, at an average of 31.48 and a strike rate of 123, with 10 fifties.
The figures weren’t spectacular, but one has to wonder whether KKR is regretting releasing the batsman who has suddenly turned into a run machine.