Shubman Gill received a lot of flak for his dismissal against LSG in the first game. He tried slogging a ball and was caught easily, bringing back conversations about how he is not a T20 player. While Gill isn’t known for his big sixers, his knock against the Delhi Capitals helped display what he could give with his skillset.

He scored 84 off just 46 balls and the knock was full of brilliant strike-rotation. He played only six dot balls on a wicket that wasn’t easy to start on. Around him, the likes of Vijay Shankar and Hardik Pandya got off to slow starts, and couldn’t bat with Gill’s pristine timing.

Once set, Shubman Gill began to go after the bowlers. He cruised through his knock effortlessly, making his runs without attracting too much attention. His smoothness surprised the crowd as his score often went unnoticed, and all of a sudden they saw him roar into the 80s.

It is known that Shubman Gill is not the kind of player who can attack all the time. He is a player who focuses on timing rather than power, and that is what made his time with the Knight Riders difficult. At Kolkata, the emphasis was to bat with aggression and that made it tough for Gill who looks to play the anchor role. He had to go for shots that are not natural to him and that led to his struggle and a lower strike-rate due to an increase in dot balls.

Against the Capitals though, Gill showed that he can be aggressive and positive with timing and not through flashy strokes. He limited the number of dot balls he played and trusted his strength throughout the innings. His fifty came off just 32 balls, and following his fifty, Gill started innovating. He brought out some of his innovative strokes and made the other 34 runs in just 14 balls as the pitch eased out.

His teammates were impressed as they struggled on the surface and the concern of not getting enough runs on the board to counter the dew factor came up. Gill though ensured that the Gujarat Titans got a good score, and the bowlers did the rest to defend the score and ensure Shubman Gill’s efforts didn’t go to waste.

With his innings, Shubman Gill proved that runs can be scored quickly by playing normal shots. He was unfortunate to miss out on a hundred, but the confidence attained will carry him a long way through the tournament as Shubman Gill can now trust his game in shorter format. For now, the strike-rate issue has been put to rest, and if Shubman Gill keeps batting like this a lot more runs can be expected from the young man.