In the IPL match between the Gujarat Titans (GT) and Punjab Kings (PBKS), the Punjab Kings won the toss and chose to bowl first, led by captain Shikhar Dhawan. Both teams had to make changes because of injuries. PBKS replaced the injured Liam Livingston with Zimbabwe player Sikandar Raza, while GT brought in Kane Williamson for David Miller, who was injured.

The Gujarat Titans, led by Shubman Gill, are aiming to continue their winning streak after their seven-wicket victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad. On the other hand, Punjab Kings are hoping to bounce back from their two consecutive losses against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants.

Gill, last year’s Orange Cap winner, hasn’t performed up to expectations this season, scoring only 75 runs in three games. The pressure on him has increased as he takes over the captaincy from Hardik Pandya. Pandya left GT for the Mumbai Indians before the auction last year after leading GT to the title in their debut season and finishing as runners-up. There’s a lot of pressure on Gill to deliver with the bat and silence his critics.

Mohit Sharma, the veteran pacer, defended Gill, stating that although his stats might not show it, Gill is batting well and a big score from him is imminent.

ALSO READ: Who is Ashutosh Sharma? PBKS Impact Player Who Helped His Team To Improbable Win Vs GT

PBKS, despite having strong bowlers like Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel, has struggled to find a winning bowling strategy. Even Rahul Chahar hasn’t been as effective as expected. Dhawan needs to address these issues and hope for an improved performance. Additionally, Liam Livingstone’s absence due to a hamstring injury is a significant setback for PBKS.

Highlights from GT vs PBKS

– Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and Punjab Kings chose to bowl first

– Kagiso Rabada dismissed Wriddhiman Saha early

– Harpreet Brar then got the wicket of Kane Williamson after the powerplay

– Shubman Gill scored his first half-century of the season

– GT have brought in Kane Williamson for the injured David Miller

Indian captain Rohit Sharma‘s  struggles in Test cricket persisted as he fell prey to debutant England spinner Shoaib Bashir in the early stages of Day 1 of the ongoing second Test in Visakhapatnam.

Cautious start from Team India openers

Winning the toss, the Indian opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal (51 not out) and Rohit adopted a cautious approach on a seemingly benign surface. The duo successfully navigated through the initial hour of play, emphasizing the value of preserving their wickets as they added 40 runs for the first wicket in 17.3 overs. However, Rohit’s resilience came to an end through a soft dismissal.

Rohit Sharma falls prey to debutant Shoaib Bashir

Bashir, drafted into the playing XI as a replacement for the injured Jack Leach, made an impact in the 12th over after Joe Root and James Anderson initiated the proceedings with the new ball.

In only his fourth over, Bashir’s off-break deceived the well-settled Rohit. Bashir maintained a tight line against the right-handed batter, affording him minimal room to maneuver. Rohit, attempting a glance against the turning ball, ended up guiding it straight into the hands of leg slip fielder Ollie Pope. Rohit departed for 14 runs off 41 deliveries, with no boundaries in his innings, restrained by Anderson and the finger spinners.

ALSO READ: Sachin Tendulkar’s former teammate Prashant Vaidya arrested in a cheque bouncing case

Rohit’s Vishakhapatnam legacy takes a hit

Rohit has consistently demonstrated an impressive track record in Vishakhapatnam across different formats. This venue holds particular significance as it witnessed his initiation as an opener in red-ball cricket. In the 2019 Test against South Africa at this ground, Rohit registered twin centuries, solidifying his position in the longest format of the game. Nevertheless, the streak of scoring a second consecutive hundred at this venue concluded today with his dismissal.

With Shubman Gill departing after a brisk 34, Team India is in a rebuilding phase, currently positioned at 103/2 after 31 overs, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer at the crease.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

Rebuilding phase

Currently in a rebuilding phase after the dismissals of Rohit and Shubman Gill, Team India finds themselves at 103/2 after 31 overs. Gill, who played a brisk knock of 34, also departed before the lunch. The batting duo of Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer ( 4 not out) is now at the crease, aiming to steady the innings in the second session.

Shubman Gill had fallen 26 runs short of the triple-figure mark on Friday in Mohali in the opening match of the ODI series against Australia, as he walked back with his head down in sheer disappointment at failing to finish the innings for India himself in the chase of 276. But on Sunday, on a batting-friendly track at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, with the longest boundary being 69 metres, Gill ensured that he got to his 6th ODI century, with which he broke a plethora of records. But India legend Virender Sehwag was not satisfied with the knock. Sehwag was left miffed, wanting a bigger score from an in-form Gill.

2023 has all been about Gill. Dominating thoroughly in the ODIs, especially, the young India opener has already smashed more than 1200 runs this year, the most by a batter in the format, with five centuries. Four of those came in India, which is now the joint most by a batter at home in a single calendar year as he matched Ricky Ponting and Pakistan’s Zaheer Abbas. The feat also took him closer to breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most runs in the 50-over format in a year, with most backing the 24-year-old to shatter the feat during the World Cup.

Despite the record show in Indore, Sehwag, in conversation with Cricbuzz, was left fuming at Gill not making the most of his form and missing out on a bigger score. He explained that scoring bigger runs are easy at a young age, with form, given that the body can recover quickly and allow the player to field as well, but it gets difficult with age.

‘Gill missed out on a double century’: Sehwag

Also Read: Ashwin rushes for late-night batting practice after India beat Australia, makes coach Rahul Dravid field

“He missed out last time but ensured that he got his hundred today, but I would still say that the form he is in he should have scored 160 or 180. He is now of just 25. Had he scored 200 today then he wouldn’t have become tired and could have fielded as well. At 30, he would have found it difficult because he wouldn’t have recovered. So it is better to score big runs now,” he said.

Sehwag further pointed out that when Gill was dismissed there were still a lot of overs left and had he stuck around for a few more deliveries then he could have got to his second double century. It was then that the former India opener subtly mentioned his 2011 feat against West Indies at the Holkar Stadium when he had scored 219. While also mentioning Rohit Sharma’s record of three double tons, he stressed on the fact that the Indore track gives batters the chance to go for such big knocks and opined that it was a missed opportunity.

“When you are in form and you are scoring runs then don’t throw your wicket away. When he got out, there were 18 overs still remaining. Had he played for 9-10 overs more he could have completed his second double hundred. Rohit Sharma scored three double hundreds. He had the opportunity today. A 200 has been scored at this venue by a player named Sehwag, because it is that sort of a track,” he said.

India are yet to taste defeat at the Asia Cup and much of their success has been down to a dominant top order that has been led superbly by Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma.

Gill already has two half-centuries at the tournament and a total of 154 runs and the right-hander has been rewarded in the latest rankings by rising to a career-best second-placed with just Pakistan skipper Babar Azam ahead of him.

And Gill has closed the margin considerably on the Pakistan captain, with the gap at the top down to just 103 rating points now with Babar leading the way on 863 rating points and the India opener with 759 points.

Gill isn’t the only India star on the move, with Kohli rising two places to eighth and Rohit jumping two spots of his own to ninth on the latest batter rankings, which means India has three players inside the top 10 for the first time in more than four and a half years.

Also Read: How can Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualify for Asia Cup final vs India? All Super 4 scenarios explained

You have to go way back to the start of 2019 to find the last time India had three players this high in the rankings for ODI batters, with opener Shikhar Dhawan joining Rohit and Virat inside the top 10 way back in January of that year.

Pakistan do still have three players of their own inside the top 10 batters, but Imam-ul-Haq drops one place to fifth and fellow opener Fakhar Zaman loses three spots and is now 10th.

Experienced India spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also made some ground on the updated list for ODI bowlers, with the left-armer rising five places to seventh on the back of his nine wickets at the Asia Cup and teammate Hardik Pandya improving four places to sixth on the ODI all-rounder rankings.

There was also some joy for Pakistan’s bowlers on the rankings update, with pace duo Haris Rauf (up eight places to 21st) and Naseem Shah (up 11 spots to equal 51st) improving dramatically despite picking up a niggling injuries during their most recent encounter against India.

Also Read: India reach Asia Cup final after snapping Sri Lanka’s 13-match ODI winning streak

Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood increases his lead at the top of the ODI bowler rankings following a three-wicket haul in the first match of their ongoing series with South Africa, while a host of his teammates and Proteas stars also make ground.

South Africa duo Keshav Maharaj (up 10 places to 25th) and Tabraiz Shamsi (up 15 spots to equal 29th) improve on the list for ODI bowlers, while Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma jumps a whopping 21 places to 11th and a new career-high rating on the rankings for ODI batters following his impressive century in that series opener in Bloemfontein.

Australia veteran David Warner jumps one place to fourth on the updated batter rankings after his quickfire half-century in the third match of the South Africa series, while fellow left-hander Travis Head shoots up six spots to 20th on the same list.

India on Wednesday clean cleared West Indies in the three-match at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain. Pursuing an objective of 257, West Indies were bowled out for 137. Prior, West Indies set a reexamined focus of 257 out of 35 overs against India. Prior, India was 225 for three of every 36 overs before a downpour halted play for the second time in the match. Shubman Gill was batting unbeaten on 98 while Sanju Samson had gone along with him in the center after India lost speedy wickets.

India was 115 for one out of 24 overs before a downpour interfered with the procedures. Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill had hit their fifties to take India past the 100-run mark. Nonetheless, Hayden Walsh Jr finished the association, excusing Dhawan on 58. Prior, India won the throw and chose for bat. The guests roll out one improvement as Prasidh Krishna replaces Avesh Khan. Having proactively taken a un defenseless 2-0 in the three-match series, India will point toward the West Indies in the third and last ODI at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.

A merciless Indian group is probably not going to take its foot off the pedal as it intends to top up a world-record-winning accomplishment with one more decisive victory against the West Indies on Wednesday. India made a world record on Sunday via fixing their twelfth sequential series win in the ODI design against the West Indies – – the most against a group. In this scenery, lead trainer Rahul Dravid may be enticed to evaluate a portion of his hold players however he should keep a fine harmony between keeping the force and testing his seat strength. (SCORECARD)