New Delhi, April 7 Former India batter Aakash Chopra feels that Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill is progressing rapidly following his match-winning knock of 61 not out against Sunrisers Hyderabad to secure a commanding seven-wicket on Sunday.
Chasing 153, Gill played an anchor role and took a cautious approach in his innings after losing Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler early. He along with Washington Sundar stitched a 90-run partnership for the third wicket to bring them back into the game and set the tone of their chase.
Sundar fell one run short of his half-century on his debut for the franchise but his contribution was enough to secure them a win with Sherfane Rutherford's 16-ball 35 not out laced with six fours and a six giving it a finishing touch. Gujarat registered the victory with 20 balls to spare.
"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. Risk is something you don't want to take too often," Chopra said on JioHotstar.
"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, it's also the discovery of Washington Sundar, the batter. Earlier, it was all about one-two-three in their batting. Now, suddenly, they've got another arrow in their quiver - which we didn’t think was available to them," he added.
The veteran cricketer further lauded Sundar's knock and said the all-rounder adds one more bowling option and a left-handed batter to their side.
"Washington was with SRH for the longest time. They paid Rs 8 crore to acquire his services and yet didn’t give him a proper opportunity. Even here at GT, he was picked up but didn't get a single game until today - and still didn’t bowl. It’s quite bizarre how he’s been handled at the IPL level. But what I found exciting and impressive from both GT’s and Washington's point of view, is that he now gives them one more option," Chopra said.
"In their top three, they’ve got one left-hander Sai Sudharsan, who bats deep. But after that, it was almost an all right-handed line-up until Rahul Tewatia. Now, with Washington Sundar, they have another left-handed option. And the bowling doesn't get depleted because Ishant Sharma bowled his full quota of overs, went for a lot and still, Washington wasn’t even needed. Yet they restricted the opposition to 153. That means their bowling depth is fine.
"I think we’ll see Washington play a lot more games from here on - and play a bigger role too, including with the ball. His bowling is very underrated. Give him the new ball in the powerplay, and you’ll find him economical," he added.
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