IPL 2023
Aakash Chopra opens up on Shubman Gill’s role in GT’s excellent season in IPL 2023
By SMCS - Jun 1, 2023 9:00 am
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Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has picked Shubman Gill’s dominant performances as one of the primary reasons behind the Gujarat Titans’ (GT) stunning show in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023). Gill amassed 890 runs in 17 innings which came at an excellent average of 59.33 and an impressive strike rate of 157.80 to win the Orange Cap as well. He was just 83 short of Virat Kohli’s record 973-run aggregate from the 2016 edition of the cash-rich league.

Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill scored a brilliant century

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “Gill is absolutely thrilling. The last season was good but this was a wow season. He used to be called prince earlier, but he is no longer a prince, this was a proper king-type season. The domination we saw from Virat Kohli in 2016, this was that kind of a season. He just kept growing. In fact, that innings against Mumbai, it was like a man possessed, that he cannot do anything wrong now. He was telling people where to bowl. The Narendra Modi Stadium is a huge stadium and the guy hit sixes there.”

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However, Shubman Gill smashed 129 runs off 60 balls with the help of seven fours and 10 sixes in that knockout match. His knock helped GT set a massive 234-run target for MI, who lost the game by 62 runs as Gujarat reached the final. Aakash Chopra also questioned the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for releasing Shubman Gill before the IPL 2022 auction. He also praised the Gujarat Titans for acquiring Gill before the auction. They bought Gill for ₹8 crore as part of their draft picks ahead of the IPL 2022 auction as well.

Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill

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“Kolkata let him go. In the options they had there, they retained Venkatesh Iyer. Nothing against Venkatesh Iyer, but it is very important at which stage you pick a player and when you leave him. Both things define how your future and present will be. You don’t get a player like him and you let him go,” Chopra said. “Gujarat convinced him not to go to the auction. If he had gone to the auction, if Ishan Kishan is worth 15.25 crores, would Shubman Gill not have been very expensive, but they asked him to come to them,” Aakash Chopra added.