Shubman Gill, captain of the Gujarat Titans (GT), explained that he was unable to play in the second innings against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur on April 28 due to a mild back spasm. The 25-year-old helped GT reach a huge 209/4 in 20 overs with a spectacular 50-ball 84 in the first innings.
However, Ishant Sharma unexpectedly replaced him as the Impact Sub in their fielding innings. Gill watched the action from the dugout while Rashid Khan assumed command.
Shubman Gill told the announcers (via Cricbuzz) when they questioned him about not playing in the second inning:
“Felt a little back spasm in my back and we have a game couple of days after this, so the physio didn’t want to take a chance.”
Shubman Gill
On Friday, May 2, three days from now, GT will take on the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their next game.
“They took the game away from us in the powerplay” – Shubman Gill on GT’s loss to RR
Unfortunately for Gill, his amazing performance was in vain, as RR startled GT by chasing down 210 in 15.5 overs with eight wickets left. Gill acknowledged that the RR openers dominated his bowlers during the powerplay, sweeping to 87/0.
With a match-winning 38-ball 101, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi got cricket fans everywhere on their feet. After Chris Gayle (31 deliveries), he achieved his century in just 35 balls, which is the second-fastest in IPL history.
In addition, Suryavanshi became the youngest cricket player in history to reach a T20 century.
“They took the game away from us in the powerplay and credit to them for that. There were a couple of things that we could have done better but it’s very easy to sit out and say those things. Some chances came early our way, couldn’t grab those but in hindsight I think there are some areas that we need to work on as a group. (On Vaibhav Suryavanshi) It was his day. His hitting was just tremendous and he made full use of his day.”
Shubman Gill
Yashasvi Jaiswal, another opener who hit an undefeated 70 off 40 balls, provided the youthful player with strong support as well.
GT remained in third place on the points table after only suffering their third defeat in nine games.
