Shubman Gill was on another surface while playing the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Batters around him struggled to match his pace as Shubman Gill went about his business, albeit in as non-violent a manner as possible. He reached his 50 off just 22 balls without hitting a single six, as his only six came up later in the innings. His 101 took only 58 balls while the other could only make 219 in the remaining 182 deliveries that were bowled in the game.

His fours too were rather swift and did not warrant much risk as Gill, along with Sudharshan spent most of their partnership focusing on ones and twos, pushing the Hyderabad fielders nicely. Coming into the game, not much was expected off the surface, given it was being used for the first time. There was some early movement, and SRH did well to maintain a tight line and length, only to be faced by a batter who was in some really good form in Test Cricket before this series.

With Hyderabad going for Test match lengths, Gill was able to focus on piercing the gaps rather than taking on the infield, making his shots look all the more risk-free. Like Virat Kohli tends to do, Shubman Gill found it easy in the early stages. The only drawback with his innings though was his batting towards the back end. Towards the end of the innings, Shubman Gill did slow down a touch, but that could be due to a few reasons.

For starters, the Titans lost some quick wickets in the back end, and with SRH finding their lengths, run-scoring proved to be a little more difficult. The slow down though does not take much away from the effortlessness of Gill’s knock, as he looked absolutely clean with his approach. With Yashashvi Jaiswal stepping up in the Royals, and with Shubman Gill already looking good internationally, the IPL has helped India find two players who could continue to step forward.

Both players, to add, have contrasting styles, which could help complement each other nicely. While Jaiswal goes for his shots, and plays with a lot of flair and intent, Gill has shown that he has the ability to silently pace his innings, with intent, and with clean strokes. He has already done wonders for India this year and has locked the opening spot across formats as well.

The century against SRH is his sixth this year, with five in international Cricket and one in the IPL. Three of his centuries came at Ahmedabad, as Gill shows that Ahmedabad is his, and 2023 is his year to light up.