Gill trumps Kohli in high-stakes, dazzling display of stroke-play

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) versus Gujarat Titans (GT). Virat Kohli, proclaimed as the king of Indian cricket by many, against Shubman Gill – the man many believe will eventually inherit Kohli’s throne. Two dazzling displays of stroke-play but such is this cruel game, that only one could end up on the winning side.

Neither did much wrong, and neither, at the cost of sounding melodramatic, deserved to be on the losing side. But sometimes, it is about the fine margins, and on Sunday, Gill seemed to ace those just that tad bit better.

To make things clear, this is not insinuating that Kohli played a bad knock or that he and RCB left runs out there.

If anything, he ensured that RCB had more than enough runs to play with. What Gill did, though, is illustrative of the transformation the T20 game is currently undergoing, and the metamorphosis that India needs to buy into as well.

Both notched up sumptuous tons, although both came about vastly differently.

Gill and Kohli produced stunning tons in a crunch game

The former India captain’s 101-run knock was full of running and enterprise. Only 58 of his runs came in boundaries, with him depending on singles and doubles, especially against spin in the middle overs.

In fact, only three of his 13 boundaries came off spin, with two of those arriving inside the powerplay.

Gill, on the other hand, hit three massive sixes and fetched himself two fours against spin. He did not go after them with wild slogs. Instead, he picked and chose his moments to clear the fence surgically. Two of these three sixes were off Michael Bracewell, who was filling in for debutant Himanshu Sharma’s fourth over.

The other major difference in both knocks was how effortlessly Gill was able to hit sixes. Pace and spin were treated alike, and he seemed inclined to take the aerial option whenever he had an opportunity.

He ended up hitting eight sixes in his unbeaten 104-run knock, and complemented it with five fours. In short, 68 runs came via boundaries. Kohli, for context, managed just a solitary maximum.

As it turned out, those extra runs in boundaries became crucial, for they swung the tide of the game more decisively than cleverly-hunted singles and doubles - Kohli ended with a strike rate of 165.57, Gill struck at 200.

Of course, Gill had the luxury of a target in front of him, but there can be no denying that the T20 format is moving towards a stage where increased emphasis will be on boundary-hitting (if it has not gotten there already).

Once that happens, knocks such as the one Kohli produced will not be undervalued. Definitely not. Rather, they will become the glorious aberrations that can only be pulled out when all other plans have gone pear-shaped – like the former RCB captain did when his team were staring at a middling total against GT.

This game, in many ways, was also symbolic of the passing of the guard between two outstanding batting talents. For the past decade, Kohli has been the gold standard of batting in India and the rest of the world.

Now, Gill seems ready to occupy that pedestal, and if anything, he might even fancy himself to outdo everything the former India captain has achieved over the years.

Prior to this fixture, and for much of the past year or so, there have been murmurs that the T20 game might have passed the likes of Kohli, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma by.

There might be a bit of truth in it, considering T20 is definitely a lot more gung-ho than it was a couple of years ago and the role of anchors is diminishing.

But on Sunday, Kohli showed that there is still place for an innings that might not rattle along at break-neck speed but assesses the conditions and gives the team something to fight with.

Sunday, though, also illustrated where the T20 game will ultimately head, with Gill producing one of the great IPL innings in a run-chase.

This contest was billed as an encounter between the king and the prince - in a high-stakes environment designed to test the best in the business. And it did not disappoint.

In the end, only Gill could end up on the winning side, despite Kohli trying everything to not lose.