IPL 2019 | Feels great to get first Man of the Match at home ground, says Shubman Gill
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Shubman Gill has stated that it feels great to be presented with his first ever Man of the Match award at his home ground in Mohali. The Kolkata Knight Riders opener had struck an unbeaten 65 off 49 deliveries against Kings XI Punjab on Friday to take his team home in a virtual knock-out encounter.
Kolkata Knight Riders were set to chase a target of 184 by Kings XI Punjab in Saturday’s Indian Premier League encounter. Every KKR player had chipped in with few runs but the opener Shubman Gill was the pick with the bat as he smashed 65 runs off 49 deliveries and stayed till the end to take his team through. Gill was born in Firozpur in Punjab but seeing his talent his family had moved to Mohali, and thereby, he was delighted to get his first ever Man of the Match award at his home ground - Punjab Cricket Association's IS Bindra Stadium.
“It feels great, my first MoM at my home ground. Can't get better than this. Even some relatives from my village came to watch so it's great to play in front of everyone,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony, reported Cricbuzz.
The opener was playing the anchor's role as he had scored 34 in 31 deliveries at the end of 12 overs. However, he quickly changed gears by smashing 31 runs in his next 18 deliveries and with skipper Dinesh Karthik’s help, ensured that KKR reach their target with two overs remaining. The India player felt that it was important to build partnerships.
“It was important to build partnership. I was striking it at 80-100 but the run-rate was still going around 9-10, so that's when I decided I had to stay in there,” the 19-year-old explained.
“We have one more match to go, and it would be very nice if we can win that and make it into the play-offs.”
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