3 batters who scored their maiden 100 in IPL 2023

Scoring a T20 century is an uphill task, and doing it in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is not an easy nut to crack either.

More often than not, centuries in the shortest format are scored by a top-order batter who gets to play the maximum number of balls. The batter needs to maintain the tempo throughout his knock to reach the landmark.

It happens very rarely that a T20 hundred comes into a losing cause, as the centurion not only achieves his personal milestone but, in that process, ensures that his team put a big total on the board.

Players like Chris Gayle, who has scored six IPL centuries, have made a legacy of their own, which is still the most number of centuries scored by any batter in the IPL.

While there are many players who still have decorated IPL careers but don't have a century to their credit.

However, IPL 2023 has also witnessed six centurions so far, which on most occasions ended in a winning contribution.

In this article, we take a look at three players who have scored their first-ever IPL century this season.

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#3 Shubhman Gill

After missing out on a well-deserved century against the Lucknow Super Giants in Ahmedabad, Shubhman Gill was rightly disappointed with himself. However, he redeemed himself with a brilliant maiden IPL hundred at the same venue against the SunRisers Hyderabad.

With hot and humid weather around and an unused surface on offer with a bit of moisture in it, it was never going to be easy for the batter batting first on this surface.

But it was the class of Shubhman Gill who made this pitch look like a belter and raced away to a 22-ball fifty without taking any risks.

But then Gujarat loses wickets in clusters, and the pitch showing its nature means that Shubhman had to play as long as he can. He held one end and continued playing with controlled aggression, thus completing his century in 56 deliveries.

This was a knock of the highest order, which can be understood by the fact that only six batters managed to score in double digits or more from both teams, with no one able to have a strike rate in excess of 150, compared to Shubhman's 174.14.

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#2 Suryakumar Yadav

If you want to see a knock of unorthodox pyrotechnics that has swagger and class written all over it, then this innings of Suryakumar Yadav will not disappoint you a bit.

It has everything to be called a spectacle: a resurgence with playing percentage cricket, the timing of the ball along the ground, securing useful partnerships without being outscored, taking on the opposition's best bowler in Rashid Khan, and then nonchalantly wrecking havoc in the death overs. You name it, and this inning has it all.

On a belter of a wicket, when 200+ scores are getting chased down more often than not, MI needed a score that they could defend with their thin bowling attack. And Suryakumar ensured that they finish with a strong total of 218/5 with his fantabulous century loaded with blistering power hitting.

The highlight of his knock was the shot that he played to Mohammed Shami when Suryakumar stepped beyond the leg stump to create room for himself on a fullish delivery outside off. He then flicked his wrists at the last moment to slice it to the third-man region for a 61-meter six.

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#1 Yashasvi Jaiswal

If there is one knock who, according to everyone, deserves to be on the winning side this IPL, then it has to be the whirlwind knock of the young prodigy Yashasvi Jaiswal, who plundered Mumbai Indians batters like no other.

It was all about Jaiswal in the Rajasthan Royals innings, with the second-best score coming from Jos Buttler, who scored 18 runs.

Jaiswal's innings of 124 runs in just 62 deliveries was filled with imperious stroke play. He seemed to be batting on another surface compared to his teammates and batted out of his skin to push what would have been a 180-ball score to a daunting total of 212/7.

That was a knock of the highest order that gets etched in the memory of every cricket fanatic, exemplifying the talent of Yashasvi Jaiswal and his ball-hitting prowess.

But madness from the Mumbai Indians batting unit, especially Chris Green, Tilak Varma, and Tim David, overshadowed this knock as they chased down the target with three balls to spare.

But deep down, every cricket lover knows that this was one of many such hundreds from the stylish left-hander who possesses every ingredient to become the next big thing in Indian cricket.