Gill joins Kohli in incredible list after third IPL century

It was an absolute carnage from Shubman Gill, and once again, it was at his beloved Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. At the venue where he had smashed his maiden IPL century less than two weeks back, Gill notched up the triple-figure mark yet again, scoring his third century in the 2023 season in the Qualifier 2 match against five-time champions Mumbai Indians. 

And with the knock, Gill joined Virat Kohli in an incredible IPL list while firmly consolidating his position in the race to the Orange Cap. 

When experts were asked at the start of the season which player can break Kohli's record for the most runs in an IPL season, all agreed upon Gill. He had headed into the season on the back of a splendid run across formats which includes centuries in Test, T20I and a double hundred in ODI cricket which led to many believing the youngster to be Kohli's heir-apparent.

On Friday, in the match against Mumbai Indians, Gill continued his sublime form. And banking on the home conditions in Ahmedabad, where he has already scored over 500 runs this season, the only ever batter to reach the mark at a particular venue, the Gujarat Titans opener notched up a 49-ball century that single handedly carried the home team's score past the 150-run mark in the 15th over.

Gill became the second Indian to score three or more centuries in a single season after Kohli's record 2016 outing where he had smashed four tons. Overall, he is the third batter with Jos Buttler in the list with four centuries as well in the 2022 season.

Gill also became the second Indian batter to score 800 or more runs in a single season after Kohli's tally of 973 runs in 2016. Overall, he stands third in the list with Buttler (863 runs in 2016) standing second.

The triple-figure mark also helped Gill consolidate his position in the top of the Orange Cap list. He had only required nine runs to topple RCB skipper Faf du Plessis, who scored 730 runs in the season.

After being put to bat first in the all-important match at home, Gill and Wriddhiman Saha stitched another fifty-run opening stand before Piyush Chawla sent the senior batter packing with, courtesy of a stunning work from wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan with the stumping. The 23-year-old slowly got into the groove with a six each against Chawla and Kumar Kartikeya which helped him complete his fifty before he took Akash Madhwal, the 5/5 bowler, to the cleaners. Gill smashed him for three sixes in a 21-run over before he took down veteran spinner Chawla for two maximums and a boundary.

Gill eventually finished with 129 off 60 in the 17th over which is now the highest ever score by a batter in an IPL playoffs tie as he went past Shane Watson's knock of 117 for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2018 final against SRH.