Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra showered praise on Shubman Gill after Gujarat Titans suffered a 29-run loss against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in the ongoing IPL 2026 on Saturday.
Gill scored a fine knock of 85 runs off 49 balls with the help of five fours and seven sixes. The GT skipper scored his runs at a strike rate of 173.47. Gill added 128 runs off 73 balls with Jos Buttler to keep GT in the contest after KKR posted an above-par score of 247.
“Shubman was outstanding. Whenever Shubman comes in front of KKR, I think he sends a reminder that they didn’t do the right thing in letting him go. At that time, I had made a video that KKR’s next captain should be Shubman Gill. However, KKR didn’t think like that, and they let him go,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
Chopra praised Gill for taking the attack against KKR’s best bowler, Sunil Narine.
“They let him and Suryakumar Yadav go, and then Shreyas Iyer also left. It seems slightly personal that he has to thrash this team a little. He was really good the way he played against spin. He took down Sunil Narine. That was phenomenal to watch,” he added.
The cricket analyst also questioned Gujarat Titans for sending Sai Sudharsan after the left-hander was hit on the elbow by Kartik Tyagi.
“Jos Buttler also played incredibly well. Sai Sudharsan played at the start, got injured, and then he returned. Why did he return? I was slightly surprised. He had scored 40 runs off 20 balls. When you see his total, you say runs weren’t scored after that,” he said.
The former KKR batter said GT all-rounder Jason Holder should have batted instead of Sai Sudharsan.
“They weren’t going to win the match, but shouldn’t Jason Holder have been sent? Who could have taken you closer to a win – the guy who can hit sixes. One team hit 22 sixes, and the other hit 11. That’s the difference. You can’t chase 240 runs without hitting sixes, and their best six-hitting player, who, in my opinion, is Jason Holder, lower down the order, didn’t get to bat,” Chopra explained.
GT will next take on CSK at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Thursday.
