'Still believe Gill's release from KKR..': Ex-CSK star tears into Kolkata Knight Riders with 'biggest blunder' jibe

Not long ago, a young Shubman Gill had said that if he was given a choice, the Indian opener would have forever represented the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Currently spearheading the batting charge of defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT), Gill is in the form of his life as the star batter has dominated the 16th edition of the cash-rich tournament.

Shubman Gill plays a shot during the IPL 2023 cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders(PTI)

Gill-starrer GT side will meet MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2023 final on the reserve day at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The in-form batter is heavily tipped to extend his impressive run in the final against the four-time champions on Monday. Talking about the rise of Shubman in IPL, former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris termed KKR's decision to part ways with the talented batter as the 'biggest blunder' a team has made in the history of the celebrated tournament.

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"I still believe that his release from KKR will go down as the biggest blunder a franchise has made. The only other one was KL Rahul from RCB. However, there is age advantage here. Gill is still a very young man, he has got a lot of growth in his game. He can not only be the star for this GT star, especially after the next World Cup, he will be the backbone of this Indian side. And I think he will embrace that." Styris told JioCinema.

Opener Gill was released by two-time champions KKR ahead of IPL 2022. The Indian opener was overlooked by the KKR think-tank as the Kolkata-based franchise opted to retain the services of Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakaravarthy at the time. Gill was roped in by Gujarat Titans, with whom he won the IPL in 2022. The Indian opener propelled Hardik Pandya's GT to the final of IPL 2023 by slamming a sensational century against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Qualifier 2. With 851 runs under his belt, GT opener Gill is all set to win the Prestigious Orange Cap this season.

"We have seen the evolution of Baby GOAT, from his KKR days to now in GT. He was getting starts, and out of nowhere, he would get out. But he is converting those. He has made the adjustments to his game. He has taken the responsibility, he is happy to be the mainstay of this batting line-up. And he is looking like Virat Kohli back in the day as well, in the sense that he is in total control of his game. He is not having to thrash the ball or go after the bowling. He just hits the bad ball," the former CSK star added.