Not at all concerned about our middle-order: GT captain Shubman Gill

Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Shubman Gill dismissed concerns about the team’s middle order after their victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Titans capitalised on home conditions and black soil in Ahmedabad to post a competitive total of 196 for 8 before restricting Hardik Pandya’s Mumbai Indians (MI) to 160.

GT’s top-order batters led the charge, with Sai Sudharsan scoring 68, Gill contributing 38, and wicketkeeper batter Jos Buttler adding 39, providing a strong foundation for the 2022 champions. However, the middle-order struggled, as Shahrukh Khan (9), Sherfane Rutherford (18), Rahul Tewatia (0), and Rashid Khan (6) failed to make significant contributions.

“I don’t think so (middle order is a concern). Even in the previous match (vs Punjab Kings), I think, yes it was a high-scoring game, and we were chasing around 250 runs (243), but Rutherford scored around 48 runs (46 in the middle order). It’s not a bad start. So, I don’t think we are at all concerned about the middle order,” he said after the match.

The right-handed batter admitted that many factors worked in their favour on March 29. The 25-year-old noted that the home conditions, especially the black soil, suited his team’s style of play better than the red soil surface.

“So many things… the way we started off in the power play. On this kind of wicket, scoring close to 200 runs is a great confidence for us going into the second innings. I think the way we bowled in the middle, everything went our way in this match. I think each team has their own strengths and the way they like to play a certain type of cricket. I think this kind of wicket suits our batting and bowling overall… strength of our team more than on the red soil,” said the Gujarat captain.

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Don't want all games to be 240–250 totals: Gill

The Indian batter expressed that high-scoring games often take the skill out of the contest. The right-handed batter also clarified that the black soil pitch was not prepared with the opposition in mind.

“We just don’t want all the games to be 240–250 runs. I feel if there are such high-scoring games, the skill out of cricket, it takes away from that," he added.

“We decided to play on this wicket before we played the first match. There was not enough time for us to prepare a red soil wicket. So, it was decided before we played the first match that we’re going to play this match on a black-soil wicket. It had nothing to do with the opposition,” Gill concluded.