The Indian Premier League (IPL) league stage came to an end on Sunday with Gujarat Titans (GT) delivering the finishing blow to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at a packed M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
RCB knew they needed to win to make the playoffs after Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets earlier on Sunday, but this season, it was just not meant to be.
Virat Kohli finished the competition with 639 runs from 14 games, six fifty-run innings, and two centuries. A year is a long time, and at this point last year, Kohli’s only IPL 2022 accomplishments were two fifty-sixes.
While it is safe to say that Kohli has peaked at the ideal time, the rest of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team has struggled this year and their inability to work as a team has cost them the playoffs.
After MI won, only the weather Gods could save RCB because the game was delayed by nearly 90 minutes at the Chinnaswamy Stadium by drizzle.
Middle of their batting order. The middle of the RCB batting order once again failed to produce the big runs. In order for RCB to succeed this season, they have been almost entirely dependent on Kohli, Du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell, and the middle-order batting lineup has not performed up to par.
Even with a Kohli century that lit up the Chinnaswamy Stadium this season, where totals over 200 have been chased
RCB’s total of 197/5 did not seem secure enough. Dinesh Karthik, who had a track record of finishing games last season, fell short of that mark this time, scoring just 140 runs in 13 games.
Mahipal Lomror also struggled to earn a spot in the RCB playing XI this year, scoring just 135 runs in 12 games.
It was evident that Rajat Patidar was greatly missed by RCB this season. Patidar, a 29-year-old player who had scored 333 runs in eight games, had been sidelined by injury for the entire season. Patidar undoubtedly would have improved RCB’s batting order.
Shubman Gill should receive the award for “Mr Consistent” in the IPL. IPL 2023 has seen a surge in young players, and Shubman Gill is unquestionably one of them.
This season, Shubman has two centuries and four fifties, so he appears to be headed in the right direction.
Both Kohli and Shubman were fluid in their approaches, but Shubman’s knock was even better because of his more assertive manner. Shubman slammed eight sixes—seven more than Kohli—and five fours.
Although Gill didn’t score many goals during the powerplay, it was only then that the 23-year-old decided to switch up his strategy. Vijaykumar Vyshak paid the price for the length delivery in the eighth over when Gill launched over the bowler’s head for a powerful maximum.
Afterwards, Gill unleashed his full arsenal on Himanshu Sharma, hitting him off consecutive deliveries for a four and a six.
Again, in the 13th over, Gill smacked Michael Bracewell for two sixes, one flying over long leg and the other over deep midwicket. Even though Gill’s boundaries stopped coming for a few overs, he continued to alternate his singles and doubles, and since GT had just lost Vijay Shankar and Dasun Shanaka, Gill had to be cautious.
With their score at 171/4, GT lost David Miller in the 18th over, but right around that time, Gill started acting aggressively once more. After punishing Siraj for two sixes over the deep in the 18th over, he whipped over deep square leg for another maximum, which is likely what sealed RCB’s fate.
Twitter Reactions After Shubhman Gill’s Knock:
Indian cricket is always blessed to produce generational batter in every decade Gavaskar to sachin. Sachin to virat , virat to gill in this decade . He is not second kohli. He is first shubman gill . #CricketTwitter #ViratKohli𓃵 pic.twitter.com/rqSduKnaQx
— kirat_13 (@kirat1313_) May 22, 2023
https://twitter.com/12th_khiladi/status/1660477572164259840?s=20
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill & Rinku Singh: consistency will be key to their career duration in internationals, for Cricket has very much moved from Single Skill to 3-Dimensions.
— Ritesh Ranjan 🇮🇳 (@ranjanmania) May 22, 2023
Want Same Century In WTC Final.@ShubmanGill 🙏👀
— SK_27♠️ (@sairaj_kokate) May 22, 2023
https://twitter.com/Yasha_yaar/status/1660476808104669184?s=20
#IPL2023: #ShubmanGill 's century outshines #Kohli's classic ton to help GT beat RCB by 6-wicket https://t.co/j6OyPhTdAS pic.twitter.com/Jhhtc5fD5J
— Rising Kashmir (@RisingKashmir) May 22, 2023
Back to Back century @ShubmanGill
He is youngster of India ❤️#shubamgill #RCBvsGT #ViratKohli𓃵 #instagram pic.twitter.com/p6zQjM5mUq— PRINCE PANDEY (@PRINCEP62755592) May 22, 2023
Ultimately, it was only a matter of time. Despite Siraj getting rid of Saha early on, the RCB bowlers were never really in the game, and for GT, Gill remained an unstoppable force to be reckoned with in the IPL 2023.
He started off with a high full toss, which Gill reviewed and decided should receive a no-ball for height. The next move was a wide yorker, which was then followed by another extra. The ever-adaptable Gill, having down the pitch and beating long-on for a maximum, sealed the deal for GT (And MI), needing six runs from six balls. This maximum would eventually break millions of RCB fans’ hearts.
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