IPL 2023 | Shubman Gill might break Virat Kohli's 2016 records, believes Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri had huge words of praise for opener Shubman Gill as the former Indian head coach pipped him as a prime contender for surpassing Virat Kohli's run tally from IPL 2016. Shastri acknowledged the difficulty of the job but went on to explain why Gill was the perfect candidate for it.
Ever since Shubman Gill's arrival on the big stage at the ICC U19 World Cup in 2018, the opener has made a name for himself as the next big thing in Indian cricket. The 23-year-old already has international centuries in all three formats of the game, including a sensational double ton in ODIs. However, Gill is yet to break through the barriers in the Indian Premier League but his former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri believes 2023 might be the year for the Gujarat Titans batter.
Shastri named the opener when asked about possible candidates to break Virat Kohli's record for most runs in an IPL season, set in 2016 when the talisman notched up 973 runs in 16 innings at an average of 82.81 and a strike rate of 150-plus.
“He (Gill) has to be an opening batsman, because only then will he get many opportunities to score runs,” Shastri was quoted saying to Star Sports by Indian Express.
“I feel, it is Subhman Gill because he is in good form and also because he plays top of the order. So he will get good number of opportunities to score runs,” he added.
Gill has already surpassed the 2,000 runs in the IPL with the current season being his sixth. The youngster managed to breach the 400-run mark in all three of his last seasons, with 2022's title-winning year being his best -- worth 483 runs at an average of 34.50. However, Gill looks ready to set a new high in the ongoing year, having cruised to 116 runs after three innings following a flamboyant 63 in the opener against Chennai Super Kings. Even so, Shastri admitted the record would be difficult to break, with Jos Buttler reaching the closest in 2022 with a record-equalling four centuries in the season and yet failing to go past the 900-run mark.
“The pitches are good, so if he can score 80-100 runs consecutively in two or three innings, then at that point of time only he will already have 300-400 runs. According to me, it is very difficult to break the record, because 900 plus runs is huge but one thing is opening batsmen will get two extra matches and two extra innings, so opening batsmen can only break this record if it is possible,” Shastri concluded on the matter.