The Titans centurion also spelled out his gameplan: “bigger boundaries if they are bowling in good areas, look for doubles. Smaller boundaries, you can take it on”
ESPNcricinfo staff
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Shubman Gill slammed his third IPL century in four games to help Gujarat Titans to 233 for 3 against Mumbai Indians in the second Qualifier. In the process he overtook Faf du Plessis as the highest run-getter of the season.
“I went to the washroom to set my hair, didn’t think I’d been wearing this,” Gill said during the innings break after he received the Orange Cap. “It feels nice.”
Gill made 129 runs in just 60 balls. He got to his century off the first ball of the 15th over, bringing the 75,655 people at the Ahmedabad stadium up on their feet. As he took his customary bow in front of them, the opposition captain, and his India captain, Rohit Sharma came over and shook his hand.
“The first couple of overs, it [held] a bit on the surface and after that because there was not as much grass on the wicket, the ball was coming on nicely,” Gill said. “I think also because of the outfield being a little wet [because of rain in the lead-up to the match], the ball stopped swinging after two overs and it got easier as we progressed into the innings.”
Titans began a bit slow with Gill on 20 off 15 after five overs. He was dropped by Tim David in the last over of the powerplay when he was on 30 off 19. But thereon he teed off to bring up his century off just 49 balls to put Titans on course for a huge total, 223 for 3. He hit seven fours and ten sixes in his innings but also relied a lot on running between the wickets at a venue where one square boundary was shorter than the other.
“Definitely [the shorter boundary] plays a part,” he said. “As a batsman you have to be aware which side to target and you have to take on the bowlers according to that. This is something I had in mind… bigger boundaries if they are bowling in good areas, look for doubles. Smaller boundaries, you can take it on.”
On a surface which Gill wished he could “carry it everywhere”, he believed Titans had responded well to the loss in Qualifer 1 to Chennai Super Kings by playing their best cricket and that they had enough to go through to the final.
“I think we have got a good total on board and hopefully we’ll be able to defend this one,” he said. We needed that [knock]. We have played our best cricket whenever we have lost a match. This is just one of those days.”
