"No IPL, No Party?" - Fans react as Shubman Gill departs for just 13 runs in India’s 1st inns of the WTC 2023 final

Team India opener Shubman Gill failed to deliver with the bat for Team India in the first innings of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Oval in London on Day 2, Thursday (June 8). The right-handed batter scored 13 runs off 15 deliveries with two exquisite boundaries.

Much to his surprise, Gill was beaten by an in-swinging delivery that went on to break the stumps. The incident took place in the seventh over when Scott Boland bowled a fuller-length delivery.

With the dismissal, Australia have made early inroads as they picked up back-to-back wickets, having dismissed India captain Rohit Sharma (15) in the previous over, leaving India at 37/2 at the Tea. Cheteshwar Pujara (14) also followed them to the pavilion, leaving India in a spot of bother at 50/3 after Tea.

Gill’s failure, however, came as a big surprise as he recently slammed three centuries for runners-up Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2023. The 23-year-old also emerged as the highest run-scorer in the latest edition of the T20 league.

Fans on Twitter trolled Shubman Gill for his failure to step up in the first innings after Australia posted a mammoth 469 in their first innings. One tweeted:

For the uninitiated, Shubman Gill returned with scores of 28 and eight during the inaugural 2021 WTC final, where India lost to New Zealand by eight wickets. The Punjab-born batter will look to make amends if India are required to bat in their second innings of the ongoing one-off Test.

Shubman Gill fails to fire after Australia pile on 469 in 1st inns of the WTC final

Travis Head and Steve Smith starred with the bat for Australia as they piled up 469 in their first inns on Day 2. Head scored 163, including one six and 25 boundaries, while Smith slammed his 31st ton, scoring 121, including 19 fours. The duo shared a 285-run partnership for the fourth wicket to frustrate Indian bowlers.

Mohammed Siraj emerged as the pick of the bowlers for Team India, returning with figures of 4/108. Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur scalped two wickets apiece, while Jadeja finished with one.

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