‘Most pleasing batters to watch in modern cricket’ – Anil Kumble in awe of Shubman Gill’s match-winning knock vs Rajasthan Royals

Legendary India spinner Anil Kumble has heaped praise on Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill following his impressive batting display against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday, 9 May. 

Gill went on to score 84 runs from just 44 balls whilst opening the batting in the first innings, once again proving that class and elegance can be as fruitful in T20 cricket as power and brute force. This impressed Kumble, who believes the way the GT captain goes about batting in T20s is what makes him unique and stand out from other players in the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

“Shubman Gill is one of the most pleasing batters to watch in modern cricket. There is nothing overly flashy about his game. He relies on playing each ball on its merit. Even when he goes for big shots, he remains in complete control. That is what separates him from many power hitters. The best part of his batting is his ability to bat deep. Once he is set, he takes the game deep and converts starts into long, impactful innings. When your top-order batter does that, it puts the team in a very strong position. It becomes much easier to push the total past 200. That is exactly what we saw from Shubman Gill against Rajasthan Royals,” Anil Kumble said on JioStar.

Not only did Gill score some beautiful-looking cricket shots, but he also forged an impressive opening partnership alongside Sai Sudharsan. The pair put 118 runs on the board for the first wicket, to make sure the Titans are in total control whilst batting first. Sudharsan himself scored a half-century, hitting a 36-ball 55 to support his skipper.

Gill is currently GT’s highest run-scorer and the tournament’s fourth-highest with 462 runs at a strike-rate of 160.41 whilst averaging 46.20.

India’s Test and ODI captain has not only been impressive with the bat but has also captained brilliantly so far this season. GT are currently second in the standings with 14 points to their name from 11 matches, having won four games on the trot.