Shubman Gill The Titan of Gujarat, the Titan he can further become!

Shubman Gill The Titan of Gujarat: In the age of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, where both legends of the game are still very much active, one across formats in the international game and the other, in franchise cricket’s opulent version, just what realistic chance does a youngster have in India to make a lasting impression? 

How far possible is it for a youngster regardless of his promise to etch headlines and form his own place? 

Earlier this year, when on January 18, he greeted the visiting New Zealand team with a sensational double hundred, the first of his career, Shubman Gill really surprised quite a few. 

With a flurry of wickets falling at the other end, Gill, who batted with absolute calmness and fluency, invoked a sense of positivism that underlines the power of youth. 

Then, just a fortnight later, when he fired an unbelievable, unreal 63-ball-126 in the final T20I against the very same opponent at Ahmedabad, Shubman Gill made us realise that he wasn’t leaving anything to chance and was anything but a one match wonder. 

At the back of a lone, rampaging inning, India won the series. 

But it could be argued that at a time where many arrive and dazzle only to fizzle out not long after they begin, Shubman Gill has gone from strength to strength. 

It’s taken him seventeen odd games in a single season to emerge as the premier batsman of a franchise that may be new to the league, but has since its inception become a great force to reckon with. 

It’s taken him no more than 91 games, to speak precisely, in order to become a real force to reckon with. 

Frankly speaking, it’s not everyday that you first get to match and ultimately, overtake a certain Virat Kohli in the highest annals of T20 franchise cricket where it comes to hitting centuries. 

And when you do that, you certainly prove that maybe you’re as rare as they come. 

With three tons to his name and amid massive pressure and not to forget, unsparing social media scrutiny where random failures are endlessly debated, Shubman Gill in IPL 2023 was a revelation. 

Alongside, Yashasvi Jaiswal, he was truly a force like no other and a talent that now mustn’t be taken any lightly; he must, in fact, be encouraged to grow further in confidence.  

Not that he hadn’t previously offered a glimpse of his great potential; the massively important 91 at the famous Brisbane Test had well and truly set the perfect platform for the rest of his teammates to take over and go over the line. 

And while it can be debated on some other day, you did really feel that while Pant with his heroics got the improbable job done, Gill, who missed out on a hundred, was somewhere under appreciated. 

Wasn’t he?

Though, not this time around. 

The format was different and so was the audience and appeal of the contest. 

But in this season of the IPL, if there was one standalone batting force that allowed the Gujarat Titans, the deserving runner’s up, to play like real titans, then it was Shubman Gill. 

Frankly, it’s not just about his massive tally of runs, 890 of them that took Gujarat all the way into the massively followed final. 

It’s also not about the sensational hundreds; it’s the manner in which Gill went about conjuring dollops of runs, hitting them everywhere, whether at Ahmedabad or Hyderabad, Mumbai or Punjab, the latter, his home territory that made one stand up and take note of a star in the works. 

Shubman Gill, a tall figure on the 22 yards nearly always appears in a constant pursuit of runs. 

To much surprise, the keenness to hit runs doesn’t take the shape of ceaseless hits and misses or the awkward chances that would highlight needless big hitting. 

Gill combines power and timing and at times, takes just one of those routes to defy the bowling attacks. 

Why his 2023 IPL heroics will always be treasured is that despite the fortune of not having to face Rashid or Shami, Gill was up against some of the finest names with the white ball. 

He faced anyone and everyone and with much intent and unsullied focus- whether Chahal, Kuldeep, Nortje, Ishant, Umran, Rabada, Narine, Russell, Behrendorff, Boult, Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar or even the tricky and hard-to-pick Pathirana. 

On more occasions than none, the common feeling you got seeing Shubman Gill was that he was operating on a different level and batting on a different plane altogether. 

The dancing down the tracks, the short arm jabs and the superbly timed strokes at his favourite square of the region instilled life in live games and made one revisit the highlights of a contest with Gujarat in it once more. 

Perhaps it could be argued that it was none other than the Gill effect that rubbed off beautifully on the docile but watchful Wriddhiman Saha, allowing the old guard of the sport to come on his own eventually. 

Yet, perhaps nothing explains Gill’s success as fervently as the fact that he batted so beautifully and purposefully that he didn’t let others in his side- picture Miller and Tewatia– bother themselves all that much. 

To add to your woes of having to face two of the most admirable left handed hitters of the white ball, you now also had to overcome Shubman Gill, which as it turned out, wasn’t something that bowlers got away with. 

All that told, what’s important is to remember that Gill, who’s begun beautifully, must not be subjected to rash selection policies and must be awarded more time to flourish. 

This isn’t a talent India would want to see cut short any time soon. His isn’t a talent that must be pressured to equal a Kohli or Dhoni’s standing in the game; he must be allowed and must work to forge his own chapter in this great game of ours.