Virat Kohli lauded Shubman Gill after latter’s maiden IPL ton© BCCI/Sportzpics
The cricketing world stood still and took notice Shubman Gill slammed his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 century as Gujarat Titans defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 34 runs to qualify for the playoffs. Gill continued his purple patch with the bat, becoming the first batter to go past the 500-run mark for his franchise. As the cricketing fraternity doffed its hat to Gill, even Virat Kohli took to Instagram and posted an ‘out of this world’ story for Gill, summing up the impact the opening batter has had on him and the current generation of players.
Kohli, who has also been in fine form this season, subtly declared Gill as his successor in a glorious Instagram story.
“There’s potential and then there’s Gill. Go on and lead the next generation. God bless you,” Kohli wrote in the Instagram story, backing the young batter to become a role model for the next generation like the Royal Challengers Bangalore batter did during his prime.
Courtesy of a 101-run knock against Hyderabad, Gill climbed to the No. 2 spot in the list of run-scorers this season, with RCB skipper Faf du Plessis being the only one ahead of him.
Gill, speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, was truly thrilled to have scored his first IPL century against SRH, the team against which he had made his debut.
“I made my IPL debut against SRH and got my first hundred against them, so life has come a full circle. Hopefully, many more to come. It’s all about the bowlers and situation and I don’t dwell much on my last innings. It is important to focus on the situation in front,” he said.
While Gill was the top-scoring batter for Gujarat, Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma bagged 4 wickets each to ease their team’s progression into the knockouts with a comfortable victory.
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