Ahmedabad: After scoring his third century of the IPL 2023 season, Shubman Gill said he wished if it was possible to carry the pitch of the Narendra Modi Stadium here, everywhere, to continue his purple patch, which hit its peak through a sensational 60-ball 129 against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 match on Friday.
“I wish this was possible – I will carry it ((Ahmedabad pitch) everywhere. I think we have got a good total on board and hopefully we’ll be able to defend this one. We needed that (innings). We have played our best cricket whenever we have lost a match. This is just one of those days,” said Gill in a mid-innings chat with broadcasters.
In the process of hitting 129 with the help of ten sixes and seven fours while taking Mumbai’s bowlers to cleaners all over the park as Gujarat posted 223/3, Gill overtook Faf du Plessis to be the highest run-getter of the ongoing season.
“I went to the washroom to set my hair, didn’t think I’d been wearing this. It feels nice,” he replied on getting the orange cap.
The opener felt batting became easier after initial overs.
“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,” he said.
“I think also because of the outfield being a little wet (because of rain delaying the start of the match by 30 minutes), the ball stopped swinging after two overs and it got easier as we progressed into the innings,” he added.
A significant moment in the match was Gill being dropped by Tim David in the last over of the powerplay. The right-hander batter was on 30 off 19 balls when he was dropped and it proved to be very costly as he made 99 runs off 40 balls post that, including getting his century in 49 balls.
Gill also pointed out strike-rotation played an essential part in his innings.
“Definitely (the shorter boundary) plays a part. 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,” he said.
–IANS