Shubman Gill continues to forehand his way in Ahmedabad

Shot of the tournament? 

One of the world's best bowlers, Kagiso Rabada, was bowling thunderbolts. Shubman Gill didn't have any of that. He sees the ball, hits the ball. But what makes this special? After hitting Rabada for a six down the ground, Gill did something audacious. 

A similar delivery, this time tougher to play, and Gill played a forehand pull, with the ball racing to the boundary, leaving Rabada with goosebumps. It is a shot that would even make the best of tennis stars Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz stand up and take notice. 

There is no chance on earth that someone is being as disdainful against one of the best bowlers this generation has seen. But this is a different world. 

Welcome to Gill’s world. 

Gill’s journey at the venue has been nothing short of a dream, nothing short of a fairytale. 

So much so that it has become a meme: Give me freedom, give me fire, give me Ahmedabad, or I retire. It has become evident that the 24-year-old has walked back with legendary numbers whenever he has stepped out to bat at the venue. 

Across the last two years (since 2022) prior to the Punjab contest, Gill had scored 684 runs at the venue, the most for a batter at a single ground. Not just that, his 684 runs, too, came at an impressive strike rate of 161.3. 

In case you were wondering, Gill has had an overall strike rate of 147.2 in the last two years. At all other venues, he has an average strike rate of just 130.06. 

On April 4 (Thursday), Punjab Kings put Shubman Gill’s Gujarat Titans side into batting first. While the pitch certainly gets better as the game progresses, they were unaware that Gill is a monster while batting first. 

43, 39, 45, 56, 94*, 101, 129, 39, 31

Across his last nine games at the venue, Gill has never been dismissed for a score under 30. In those nine innings, he has amassed 577 runs. But this season, there is a lot more on Gill’s plate. 

He’s the captain, he’s their main batter and more importantly, in David Miller’s absence, his importance grows in magnitude. Punjab saw this as an opportunity and immediately inserted Gujarat into batting first. 

Little did they know that they were playing into Gill’s hands. 

Gill picked it up from where he left the other night, with his first scoring shot being a six, taking on the match-up option Harpreet Brar in the second delivery he faced. It has become a pattern this season, with Gill showing more intent early on, with the first scoring shot being a boundary in three out of the four matches. 

He went from strength to strength when he scored his favourite shot against Rabada, with the ball going to the boundary quicker than it reached Gill. In his first 10 balls, the right-hander had already amassed 19 runs, showing his intent quite early. 

The introduction of Harshal Patel only made it easier, with a four in the backward point region. Despite Sikandar Raza attempting all of his variations, Gill planted his feet and smacked the ball down the ground, a shot that can sometimes be the first footage in a highlight reel. Then he did one better. 

Rabada stood there stunned. Maybe he was silently applauding the audacity of the batter in his mind, like the fans at the venue, who stood and applauded a great unfurling right in front of their eyes. 

There was no chance on earth that Gill would walk back to the dressing room without a half-century as the magic continued. He raised his bat, knowing that his half-century was just the start of things here. 

It wasn’t shocking that Gill scored a half-century against Punjab Kings, a franchise against whom he has six half-centuries in his last nine encounters. 

After three relative failures, Gill has finally started piling up the big scores, starting with this 85 against the Punjab Kings. In his last 18 deliveries, the right-hander put on a show, scoring 41 with a strike rate of 227.78. Gill knows how to set a total here in Ahmedabad, and it is evident with the numbers, 666 runs, striking at 168.2, with 83 boundaries. 

Aava de (Bring it on) oppositions. 

Gill, the kaptaan (captain) is here, and his era might just have started.