"He has realized that he is a world-class player" - Ravi Shastri lauds Shubman Gill's knock in Gujarat Titans' IPL 2023 win against CSK

Ravi Shastri believes Shubman Gill has realized that he is a world-class player and that it is now up to him to deliver to his potential.

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set a 179-run target for the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2023 opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, March 31. Gill then smashed 63 runs off 36 balls as the defending champions overhauled the target with five wickets and four deliveries to spare.

During a post-match discussion on Star Sports, Shastri was asked whether Shubman Gill favors one of the two sides of the ground or if he has an all-round game, to which he responded:

"He has an all-round game against both spin and pace. He has realized that he is a world-class player, the entire world knows that and that now it is up to him to show the consistency."

The former Indian head coach praised the Gujarat Titans opener for not solely relying on fours and sixes to score his runs, elaborating:

"The biggest difference I have felt in his game is that he is playing very few dot balls. As Irfan Pathan said, when he is unable to hit boundaries and sixes, he takes singles and doubles."

Gill hit six fours and three sixes during his innings. He hit two maximums off Tushar Deshpande's bowling, with the other six coming against Ravindra Jadeja.

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"He is very good against spin" - Ravi Shastri praises Shubman Gill's approach against Mitchell Santner

Shubman Gill uses his feet effectively against the spinners. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Ravi Shastri was particularly pleased with Gill's approach against Mitchell Santner, explaining:

"He is very good against spin off both front and back foot. Santner is a very experienced bowler but he plays Santner extremely well - you would have seen that from the New Zealand series until now. He doesn't commit, takes his chance against Santner on the back foot, and goes down the track very quickly when the ball is given little air."

The former Indian all-rounder concluded by picking Gill's six off Jadeja's bowling ahead of the nine sixes hit by Ruturaj Gaikwad during his 92-run knock for CSK, saying:

"Ruturaj Gaikwad might have struck eight or nine sixes but my favorite six was the one hit by Shubman Gill. The six he hit against Jadeja over extra cover after stepping out, it is an extremely difficult shot but he made it look easy."

Gill danced down the track to hit Jadeja for a six over extra cover to move from 43 to 49. He struck three of his six fours against left-arm spin, with two coming off Santner's bowling and one off Jadeja's.