“Fantastic captain’s knock”: Boucher, Chopra captivated wth Gill’s blistering display in Hyderabad

New Delhi [India], April 7 (ANI): Former cricketers Mark Boucher and Aakash Chopra bestowed praise upon Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill for his captain’s knock, which steered his side to a comfortable seven-wicket victory against a struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. They were speaking on Match Centre Live on JioHotstar.

Gujarat completed a hat-trick of wins in the ongoing edition after outwitting the Sunrisers in Hyderabad with an all-round performance and chasing down a paltry 153-run target with a handful of overs to spare.

As Gujarat continues to exude dominance and slowly take strong steps towards bolstering its challenge of making the playoffs, the former Mumbai Indians head coach Boucher was impressed with Gill’s calmness throughout the chase.

“They’re sitting pretty at the moment, and they’ll take a lot of heart from this one as well. It’s tough to win away from home these days, especially the way that they won. They were very convincing with the ball — they did the job a lot better than what I thought the Sunrisers did. They lost their way a little bit up front, but then the captain (Shubman Gill) came through and played a fantastic captain’s knock," Boucher said on Kuhl Fans Match Centre Live on JioHotstar..

“He never looked like he was panicking at all, even though he was losing a couple of wickets around him. It’s not about the run rate that you have to look at — it’s more about the volume of runs and the calmness with which he batted. It was a great captain’s innings, and he’ll be ecstatic with this one, especially away from home," he added.

Even though Mohammed Shami and Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins rattled Gujarat’s top order early, Gill remained undaunted and executed a wide array of shots from his armoury. He struck the winning run and went back unbeaten on 61 from 43 deliveries, coming handsomely at a strike rate of 141.86.

While Gill anchored GT to its third successive win and left Hyderabad gobsmacked, the former cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra believes the value of such a knock in T20 innings is often undervalued.

“You have to be the anchor. Sometimes, we undervalue the importance of an anchor in a T20 innings because we see so many shots being played. Especially when batting first, you’re mentally chasing a 220-plus target. But now, when you’re chasing a smaller total in the second innings, on a pitch that’s stopping a little bit and you lose two early wickets, then you need this kind of knock — where you’re trying to keep everything along the ground," he said.

While giving an in-depth analysis of Gill’s progress as a batter in the format, Aakash pointed out the recent addition of the sweep shot to his arsenal, which allows him to thrive in the opening slot.

“Risk is something you don’t want to take too often. Shubman Gill is improving in leaps and bounds. He’s added that sweep shot to his armour — something he didn’t use to play earlier. He’s got an inside-out beautiful shot. And in the end, it’s not just the two points they’ve walked away with from this game," he added. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)

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