Shubman Gill put on a show with the bat in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the last league match of IPL 2023 at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday (May 21).

Chasing 198 to win, Gill slammed 104 not out off 52 balls to take the defending champions over the finishing line with five deliveries to spare. His whirlwind century was studded with 5 fours and 8 sixes.

After the game, GT skipper Hardik Pandya said that this win would be good for the team's momentum ahead of Qualifier 1 against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday (May 23).

“The calmness which the boys had was terrific. We wanted to keep the momentum going. We have ticked a lot of boxes,” Hardik said in the post-match presentation.

Talking about Shubman Gill's form, Pandya said that the opener was special and is amazing to watch when he bats in full flow.

With the knock, Gill reached 680 runs this season and he is currently 50 runs behind the Orange Cap holder Faf du Plessis, whose team got eliminated from the competition on Sunday.

“(On Gill) He knows when he plays those cricketing shots and bats like a batter, it's a different Shubman Gill. Today, the kind of options he picked and the kind of places where he was hitting, as a bowler he doesn't give any chance. That makes him very special and the other batter gets confidence from him as well,” he added.

Earlier in the game, RCB rode on Virat Kohli’s record seventh IPL century (101* off 61 balls) to pile up 197/5 on the board.

“We would have taken 197 at the start, but we didn't bowl well. Special innings from Virat, he batted well but we went too early for death bowling. I can't ask anything better from the boys. Last year, we did well, everything went our way. This year was a different challenge for us. We were expecting people to challenge us. The boys showed tremendous character. A lot of credit goes to all the boys the way they worked hard throughout,” Hardik concluded.