Sachin Tendulkar vs CSK in 2009, Shubman Gill vs LSG in 2022: An uncanny resemblance
India Today
IPL 2022, LSG vs GT: Shubman Gill was named man-of-the-match for his unbeaten 63 off 49 balls against Lucknow Super Giants as Gujarat Titans stormed to the IPL 2022 playoffs. There are some uncanny similarities between Gill's knock on Tuesday and Sachin Tendulkar's 59 not out against Chennai Super Kings.
Before Gujarat Titans' match against Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday, Shubman Gill said he had grown up idolising Sachin Tendulkar. By the end of his unbeaten 63 off 49 balls, not only Gill had played a key role in GT's 62-run win over LSG but he emulated his childhood hero to join a rare IPL club.
On April 18, 2009, Sachin Tendulkar had become the first player to have batted through 20 overs in an IPL match without hitting a six. Over a decade later on May 10, 2022, Shubman Gill became only the second such player.
Tendulkar, who played in the IPL for Mumbai Indians, had opened the innings with Sanath Jayasuriya against Chennai Super Kings in the first match of the 2009 IPL and remained unbeaten on 59 off 49 balls. He hit 7 fours and batted with a strike-rate of 120.40 as MI finished with 165 for 7 off in Cape Town.
Chennai Super Kings managed only 146 for 7 in response and lost by 19 runs.
Shubman Gill wasn't even 10-years-old when Sachin Tendulkar played that gutsy innings in South Africa. Today, he is 22 and among the most successful batters in IPL 2022.
Shubman Gill opened with Wriddhiman Saha and batted through the innings to score an unbeaten 63. Ironically, like Sachin Tendulkar, Gill had also faced 49 balls and hit 7 boundaries.
The irony does not just end there. Sachin Tendulkar was the only player to hit a half-century in that game. Shubman Gill was the only player with a fifty in GT's victory over LSG.
