‘Will get a tight slap…’: Virender Sehwag criticises Shubman Gill’s approach during GT’s chase against PBKS

During the 18th match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL), the Gujarat Titans made a stunning comeback after their previous loss against the Kolkata Knight Riders. They secured a last-over victory against the Punjab Kings at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. The defending champions had a star player in opener Shubman Gill, who smashed an impressive 67 runs from just 49 balls. While many praised Gill’s performance, former India opener Virender Sehwag was not impressed.

Gill looked solid throughout the match and reached his half-century in just 40 balls. However, he departed in the last over after scoring 67 runs. 

In an interview with Cricbuzz, Sehwag criticized Gill’s innings, pointing out that he only accelerated his pace after reaching his half-century.

“He scored 67 off 49 balls but when did he reach his fifty? He reached his fifty off maybe 41-42 balls so in 7-8 balls he has scored 17 more runs. The acceleration came there, after he had reached his fifty. If even that had not happened then GT would have chased maybe 17 instead off 7 in the last over,” Sehwag said.

Virender Sehwag emphasized the importance of prioritizing the team’s benefit over individual milestones. He suggested that players should adopt a team-oriented approach while playing.

“You can’t think let me score a fifty and we will anyway win the match. This is cricket. The moment you think about your own performance (instead of the team), you will get a tight slap from cricket. You can’t think like that. If he had shown the same intent and played at close to a strike rate of 200 when he was nearing fifty then he could have reached his milestone a lot earlier and saved more deliveries for his team,” he added.

In the opening innings, the Punjab Kings’ batters failed to hit their stride, only managing to score 158 runs in their allotted 20 overs. However, the veteran Indian pacer Mohit Sharma put on a show with the ball for the Gujarat Titans, taking 2 wickets for just 18 runs in his 4 overs.

Despite the lackluster performance from the Punjab Kings, the defending champions were cruising towards victory thanks to Shubman Gill’s impressive 67 runs. However, a last-minute hiccup in the final over almost derailed their efforts, with the Titans needing just 7 runs to win. Fortunately, Rahul Tewatia came through with a boundary to secure the win and add 2 more points to the Titans’ tally.

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