IPL 2019 | This IPL was mixed bag, says Emerging Player awardee Shubman Gill

IPL 2019 | This IPL was mixed bag, says Emerging Player awardee Shubman Gill

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IPL

Shubman Gill has stated that his Indian Premier Premier League season for Kolkata Knight Riders has been a mixed bag, despite the fact that he won the ‘Emerging Player’ award for his batting. The youngster was the third highest run-getter for his side and scored 296 runs in 13 innings.

Shubman Gill was used as a floater for Kolkata Knight Riders for the most part of this Indian Premier League. He opened the innings only in the seventh match for KKR and scored a blistering 65 off 39 balls, however, he was again sent down the order post that innings. He returned to open the innings only in the 11th match for the Dinesh Karthik-led side and struck a 75-run innings and even an unbeaten 65 in his fourth innings as an opener. His tally for the entire season stood at 296 runs at 32.88 and he was not fully satisfied with it despite winning the ‘Emerging Player’ award.

“I think it was mixed kind of season for me because I was not opening in the first half and then I got an opportunity to open. The kind of opportunities I got I tried to capitalise on all of them,” said Gill on Monday, reported PTI. 

“And then the learning for me in this particular IPL was that whenever I tried to go over the top or whenever I tried to do extra, it didn’t really pay off well, but whenever I was myself and trying to have some fun and playing my game, it paid off,” added the 19-year-old.

Gill had made his debut for India in the ODI series in New Zealand earlier this year but he failed to make a mark in the two chances that he got. He will now feature in the upcoming India A series against Sri Lanka and as pointed out by him, he will be looking to get another shot in India colours.

“What I am really looking forward to is, now we will have some India A series and I want to really capitalise on those opportunities. I’ll try to score lot of runs and then fortunately, get an opportunity in the Indian team and then I want to really establish myself there,” expressed the Punjab batsman.

Gill had smashed two centuries and a fifty in five innings at the 2018 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. He ended up as the highest run-getter for India with 372 runs at 124 with a strike rate of 112.38. He comes as a talented batsman and is even being touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket. The Firozpur born batsman, however, dismissed all such talks and reiterated that his only focus is on scoring runs.

“These kind of talks only matter to you once you are out of the ground. When I am on the ground, going there to bat, these kind of things don’t come to my head. My only focus is who I am playing against and how I am going to score runs,” the right-hander explained.

Lastly, Gill shared memories of his meeting with his idol Sachin Tendulkar and that when he tried to touch his feet as a mark of respect, the legendary cricketer asked him to “only touch feet of parents”.

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