I loved Shubman Gill's body language and his self-confidence: Suresh Raina

Gujarat Titans (GT) young opener Shubman Gill carried out his heroics in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians. The 23-year-old hammered 129 off 60 deliveries, including seven fours and ten sixes, the most by a batter in the IPL playoffs, to help GT post a mammoth 233 runs in 20 overs. Notably, this was his third hundred in the lucrative league this season.

Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma provided significant contributions to MI during the chase. Suryakumar scored 61 runs off 38 balls, while Tilak smashed a quick 43 off just 14 deliveries. However, their efforts were insufficient to help MI win the game, as they were restricted to 171 in 18.2 overs. In addition, Mohit Sharma was crucial for GT as he picked up five wickets, conceding just ten runs in 2.2 overs.

Suresh Raina, JioCinema TATA IPL expert and former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter was full of praise for Gill, pointing out his calmness in a must-win game. He then praised his sixes during the clash, referring to them as "pick-up shots."

“The calmness we saw. In such a big match, body language is very important. The sixes he hit later in the match, ones we call pick-up shots. He hit one off Kartikeya, and after that, he realized that he can come into the line and just hit pick-up shots," Raina told JioCinema.

Raina compares Gill to legendary Indian players 

'Mr. IPL' then said that he loved his body language while batting and praised his self-confidence and self-belief. The 36-year-old further compared him to Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, claiming Gill will perform like them in India's big games. 

"I loved his body language, his self-confidence, self-belief, and he’s gotten a habit of playing in big matches. Just look at Virat Kohli, as we saw last year with Jos Buttler. But the performance we saw tonight, whenever we have big games, he will perform as Virat, Rohit, and MS Dhoni have," he added.

GT will now face four-time IPL champions CSK in the final of the 16th edition. Gujarat and Chennai have met twice this season, once in the opening encounter and once in Qualifier 1. In the first IPL 2023 match, the reigning champions defeated CSK by five wickets, while the MS Dhoni-led side outplayed GT by 15 runs in Qualifier 1 to advance to the final.