Aakash Chopra Hails GT Opener After His Sublime Ton vs MI

Former India batter Aakash Chopra heaped huge praise on talented Gujarat Titan opener Shubman Gill and said he is already a superstar of the game. The 23-year-old has been the best batter of the ongoing IPL 2023 and is leading the Orange Cap tally with 851 runs. The talented opener has slammed three centuries in the last four matches as the latest came against Mumbai Indians in the all-important Qualifier 2 which helped Gujarat Titans reach the final where they will face Chennai Super Kings. Ahead of the ongoing season, Gill was in imperious form with centuries across formats in international cricket this year and he carried forward it to the cash-rich league.

The cricketer-turned-commentator called Gill the most valuable player and said he played one of the best knocks of IPL history on Friday night against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2.

ALSO READ | ‘Shubman is a Kohinoor Diamond’: Ex-IND Cricketers Lauds ‘Satisfying’ Knock of GT Star

“The most valuable player has to be Shubman Gill. He is India’s present and future. He is not a star in the making, he is already a superstar. He has probably already played one of the finest knocks in this tournament’s history, the third century of the season and this was in a knockout game,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

In the last four innings, Gill missed out on a century against Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1 as he was dismissed for 42 as Gujarat Titans lost the match. Chopra feels that Shubman was hurt after failing to get his team over the line against CSK and took the matter into his own hands against MI.

“When he got out in the last match while chasing against Chennai, it seems he was slightly hurt as the job was unfinished. He wanted to take his team directly to the final but would have to go through Ahmedabad now, would have to play Qualifier 2,” he added.

ALSO READ | ‘Sometimes We’ve to Stop Him… I Get Scared’: Hardik Reveals What GT Dressing Room Thinks of Gill

Chopra further talked about how Shubman built his innings on a pitch everyone was claiming to be a tacky one ahead of the match.

“At the start, everyone was saying that it was a slightly tacky pitch because of which Mumbai opted to bat. He was giving a little respect to the bowlers at the start but after that the way he batted – the dominance and aggression, it seemed this is Shubman Gill’s world and we are just living in it.”

“Of course, he got a life. Tim David should have held that catch but in the end, you felt it was good that the catch was not taken or else we would have been deprived of seeing such a good knock. The batting quality was unbelievable,” he said.