"I think the season has been quite special to me" - Shubman Gill on his successful IPL 2022 campaign
Gujarat Titans (GT) batter Shubman Gill opened up about his title-winning Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season. The new franchise scripted history by defeating the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the final on May 29, with the young batter playing a big hand.
The 22-year-old was one of the top performers for the Hardik Pandya-led side in the recently culminated season. Gill registered 483 runs at an average of 34.50. This was the third consecutive season where he crossed the 400-run mark.
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Claiming his season with the bat had both highs and lows, Gill said on GT's social media handles:
"I think the season has been quite special to me. I have had some really good moments and I've had my down as well, but that's how our season goes. I think tough players and tough teams do last if they have the right mind."
Apart from being Gill's most successful IPL season, he also registered his highest score in the competition. The former U-19 World Cup winning member scored 96 runs in their last-ball win over the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Brabourne Stadium.
Gill was roped in by the new franchise prior to the auction as their third pick from the player draft. GT went into the auction having acquired the services of Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan as well.
Opining that the majority of people did not deem GT a threat heading into the tournament, he said:
"Nobody considered GT a threat among the teams and nobody considered us even in the top four teams who would qualify. When people were saying that, it did not make sense to me because it does not matter what people say. The important thing was, once we got the momentum we never really let it slip away from us."
GT registered 20 points in the league stage, topping the points table and were never in threat of sliding out of the top four. While the new franchise's strategy at the auction was heavily criticized, head coach Ashish Nehra and captain Hardik Pandya rallied the troops to victory.
"IPL is one tournament where you actually get so many opportunities to redeem yourself" - Shubman Gill
The young batter was released by the Kolkata Knight Riders after four years. The two-time winners decided to retain the core of Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer.
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Believing that the IPL is full of opportunities for players as well as franchises, Gill said:
"After ending up on the winning side, you obviously want to be better and want to improve on your mistakes. But if the team is doing well and you are not doing well, you can still take it and move on to the next match. Because IPL is one tournament where you actually get so many opportunities to redeem yourself as a player as well as a team. That's why this tournament is so special."
He had made it to the finals in the previous edition with KKR, but finished as runners-up against the Chennai Super Kings. With the recent title-win, the Punjab-born batter earned his first triumph.