Who said what - top 5 expert reactions to Shubman Gill's 121 vs Bangladesh in Asia Cup 2023 ft. Dinesh Karthik
In the last game of the Super Fours, Bangladesh beat India by six runs to end their otherwise torrid Asia Cup campaign on a good note. Having lost the toss, India opted to field first following which Bangladesh scored 265.
Skipper Shakib Al Hasan played a crucial knock of 80, smashing six boundaries and three maximums in the process.
In the chase, India got off to a horrible start as they were reduced to 17-2. However, Shubman Gill played a sensational knock as he notched up his 5th ODI century in Colombo. He scored 121 off 133 seliveries to take India to the brink of victory. His innings was composed of eight fours and five sixes and he ended with a strike-rate of 90.98.
After Gill was dismissed in the 44th over, Axar Patel fought hard, but to no avail. The loss though, doesn't affect India's campaign as they had already qualified for the summit clash in which they will face Sri-Lanka on Sunday.
Ahead of the Final, Gill's innings has given Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid a reason to relax and they will be hoping for another sublime innings by the youngster against the defending-champions. Post the game, Rohit showered a lot of praise on the young man who recently turned 24. Gill also received a lot of praise from experts and fans for his phenomenal knock.
On that note, here's a look at the top five expert reactions to Shubman Gill's 121:
#1 Dinesh Karthik
Former India player, Dinesh Karthik in a chat with Cricbuzz admitted that Gill's innings was a good sign for both the individual and the team ahead of the World Cup. He mentioned that Gill's rhythm was good and that he was in total control of his innings.He was also quite impressed by Gill's strike-rotation through the course of his innings.
"The game was at a stage when boundaries were needed and to target the off-spinner was the right thing to do. Looking back, he will review it and ask himself if he should have waited fora delivery on the stumps. That's the mistake that he made tactically but on such a pitch, executing shots is always a challenge", Karthik said.
On Gill not being able to take India across the line, Karthik said that with time, Gill will learn the art of finish games from the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
#2 Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra in a video posted on his YouTube channel termed Gill's 121 as a 'mature knock'. He praised Gill for batting well under lights against both, the pacers and spinners. Chopra went to the extent of saying that Gill's innings against Bangladesh was much better than the double-century that he smashed against New Zealand back in January.
Chopra mentioned that following his dismissal against Dunith Wellalage in the previous game, Gill's performance against left-arm spin was much better.
"Gill had a long stride yesterday and played the ball much closer to his body. That's the kind of improvement you want to see from a player at this level. he was absolutely stellar".
#3 Mohammad Kaif
Mohammad Kaif who represented India 138 times between 2000 and 2006 took to twitter to applaud Gill's magnificent knock against Shakib Al Hasan and Co. Kaif termed Gill as "the real deal" before declaring that his knock yesterday is great news for Indian Cricket.
He went on to add that Gill is undoubtedly the future of Indian Cricket. Earlier this month, Kaif had criticized the young man for his lack of intent against Pakistan in a group game of the same tournament. As such, Kaif's delight following Gill's innings yesterday is apparent.
"Gill showed no intent in that game. He had faced 19-20 deliveries (32), and the only boundary he got was down the leg side. So he definitely needs to work on his intent", he had said.
#4 Parthiv Patel
Fomer wicketkeeper batsman Parthiv Patel was quite happy with the way Gill went about his business on what was a tough track. He mentioned that Gill has always been good against pacers but yesterday, he played the spinners extremely well which is a huge plus as far as his game his concerned.
He pointed out the fact that Gill played with spin instead of committing to any shot early which was exactly what was needed on that pitch. He added that India lost the match because Gill did not get support from any of the others.
"Gill was batting really well. Someone needed to play a supporting hand and play an innings of 60-70 runs but unfortunately, that didn't happen. Only one batter got going and India still lost by only 6 runs which proves that just one more batsman needed to step up".
#5 Zaheer Khan
Former Indian opener, Parthiv Patel, while speaking to Cricbuzz felt that it was Shubman Gill's majestic innings which made the game worth watching. He commended the young man for his solid composure despite the team losing two early wickets.
"India lost by 6 runs but they were in the hunt only because of the knock that Gill played. He held one end throughout the innings. There was a lot of pressure on him as the team had lost two early wickets which makes his innings a special one".
Zaheer also acknowledged the fact that he constructed the innings on a tough wicket which had low-bounce. He praised the 23-year's methods citing the fact that Gill only played on the off-side initially, which is the way to go on a slow wicket.