CHENNAI: A ton-up Shubman Gill on Friday said not playing to the occasion brings out the best in Gujarat Titans as his side qualified for the final of IPL 2026 with a commanding seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals here.
Gill smacked 104 off 53 balls with 15 fours and three sixes to eclipse the first-innings heroics of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who made a calculated 96, to power Gujarat Titans’ victory in the Qualifier 2 here.
“(The) feeling is really good. But (a) quick turnaround so tomorrow (Saturday) we’ll just rest and recover and then go there and assess conditions,” Gill told the broadcaster after the match here.
“If you don't play the occasion it brings the best out of us and that's what we spoke about. Let's take the occasion out and play some good cricket. Whether we win or lose, we should play good cricket,” he said while revealing GT’s mantra.
The IPL final this year will be a repeat of the Qualifier 1 in which defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru had beaten Gujarat Titans by 92 runs.
GT’s win on Friday was built on a 167-run opening stand between Gill and Sai Sudharsan (58), who was dismissed hit-wicket for a second game in a row.
“We complement each other and each other's game very well. When we are batting out there our communication is very good. One of us has to take down one of the bowlers and we are very good in deciding which bowler to take on,” Gill said.
“I don't think anyone has seen that (hit-wicket) happen in two games. I saw some video on social media about taping his hands, and I think I'll have to do that,” he said.
Talking about his knock, Gill said he wanted to finish the game for the Titans.
“I was in the kind of zone where I was just looking at the gaps and the bowler and see my zone and try to hit it there. That's what happens when you're batting well, you see the gaps and middle it,” Gill said.
“At one point we thought we could restrict them to 180-190 but they made 210 (214/6) so we just wanted to get a good start. I wanted to finish it off but got out,” he said.
Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Riyan Parag said a score of around 240 would have been challenging.
“It was a par score; it was defendable. I felt after the heavy roller, it got better in the second innings. In the first innings, the bowlers got some grip, and the slower ones did well. I thought 230 would have been a par score (and) a score around 240 would have been challenging,” he said.
The Royals’ captain said Sooryavanshi’s 96 was a calculated knock.
"I can't put it into words, there's one way where you slog and score many runs. But he doesn't slog, you could see his innings today - he calculates and plays his shots,” he said.
“I can't say how, but hopefully he will go on to do well in his career, do well for the Rajasthan Royals and win us a second title.”
Riyan praised his side for making the playoffs despite their inexperience.
“To sum it up in one sentence, there were many positives. We weren't supposed to qualify, given that many players were young and inexperienced, but many youngsters performed well and can only improve from here,” he said.