IPL 2023: Aakash Chopra Applauds Shubman Gill For His Knock vs Lucknow Super Giants
Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has applauded Shubman Gill for continuing his sublime form in Ahmedabad during the Gujarat Titans’ (GT) IPL 2023 win against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Gill smashed an unbeaten 94 off 51 balls as Gujarat Titans set a 228-run target after being asked to bat first at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, May 7.
Their bowlers then restricted LSG to 171/7 to help them register a comfortable 56-run win. While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra applauded Gill for playing a match-defining knock, saying:
“Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha played extremely well. Saha couldn’t score a century but Shubman too couldn’t score a century but that’s okay. You don’t need a century. You need to bow down to such a knock because the player is very good. I am saying take this Ahmedabad pitch for the WTC final because Shubman Gill doesn’t get out on this pitch at all. He is just incredible the way he bats on this surface.”
Aakash Chopra also praised Shubman Gill for keeping his ego at bay in Wriddhiman Saha’s company and then pressing on the accelerator later on. Gill smashed two fours and seven sixes during his 94-run knock. He added together a 142-run first-wicket partnership in just 12 overs with Saha (81 off 43) to give the defending champions the winning platform too.
IPL 2023: Shubman Gill played a scintillating knock
“The thing I liked about Shubman is that he said that he does not have any ego. He allowed Saha to hit and played cautiously. Then once he (Gill) started hitting, I think he had six sixes at one stage but not a single boundary,” the veteran further added.
Aakash Chopra also claimed that the Gujarat Titans are virtually through to the playoffs even if it is not yet official as well. They have 16 points to their name with three games to play more. While they are almost guaranteed a playoff berth, they would try to finish in the top two to increase their chances of making it through to the final as well.
“Why are you not writing ‘Q’ in front of GT’s name? It is because this tournament is going differently. There are seven teams at the moment who have 10 or more points and the bottom three teams can also reach 16 points. It has happened only once in this tournament’s history when a team hasn’t qualified with 16 points,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
