Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma heaped praise on opener Shubman Gill, whose 129-run knock guided the Gujarat Titans (GT) to a 62-run win over MI in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Qualifier 2 match. His innings to GT to 233 runs as they reached their second successive IPL final on Friday, May 26.
With a tough total to chase, MI were also plagued with injury issues, forcing the use of the Impact Player Nehal Wadhera at the top of the order. However, the openers Rohit Sharma and Wadhera failed as Cameron Green was hit around the left elbow which forced him to retire hurt.
Praising Shubman Gill's batting, Rohit Sharma rued the absence of someone like him in his team. "Yeah, look it was a great total. Shubman batted really well. They got 20-25 runs extra. We were quite positive with the batting line-up we had. But we couldn't bat long and stitch partnerships. Surya and Greeny went well in the middle, but yeah, we failed to go along," Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
"We wanted to give crack, give a positive note. We lost a few wickets in the powerplay. Surya and Greeny [Cameron Green] did well in the middle. We needed someone like Shubman out there who batted long from one end," he added.
Batting first, GT started positively but lost Wriddhiman Saha just after the Powerplay. Then Gill and Sai Sudharsan set up a sensational 138-run stand, giving the hosts much-needed impetus. Gill scored his third hundred in the last four innings and ended with 129 runs, the highest individual score of this season.
The GT bowlers piled the pressure on the MI batter and completely derailed their opponents. But the MI skipper did take some positives from the performance. "Playing this game and qualifying, it gives us a lot of confidence. Some of the younger players in our batting are our huge positive. We will look to get what we can do next season," Rohit Sharma said.
"Honestly, all the bowling teams have been challenged this season. We had a great bowling performance at times. We have to give credit to Shubman and his form. I hope he gets to continue his form. It is something it is something, Tim, we have given him some role and certain situations where he would perform. I mean Vishnu, he is a good player and can bat well there. We are not going to look too much at it, Gujarat bowlers came out on top and didn't give us freebies," the Team India skipper added.
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