Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill produced a stunning 53 ball hundred on Friday night, dismantling the Rajasthan Royals bowling attack with a classical display of shot making to power his side into the IPL 2026 final. Gill has now become the only player in IPL history to score two centuries in the playoffs, a feat that stands entirely alone in the tournament’s record books.
With this hundred, Gill has drawn level with Sanju Samson on the list of players with the most IPL centuries, both now sitting on five. Chris Gayle and KL Rahul have six each, his teammate Jos Buttler has seven, while Virat Kohli leads the list with nine. Gill also set a new record for the fastest century by a Gujarat Titans batter, going past his own previous best of a 49 ball hundred against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2023 in Ahmedabad.
As a captain, Gill now has two IPL centuries to his name, placing him third on that list behind KL Rahul with three and Virat Kohli with five. Gill was eventually dismissed for a match winning 104 by Jofra Archer in the 15th over.
A chase built on brilliance
The target was never in serious doubt for a top heavy Gujarat Titans lineup, who made effortless work of the chase on the back of a magnificent 167 run opening partnership off just 77 balls between Gill, who scored 104 off 53, and Sai Sudarshan, who contributed 58 off 32.
The manner in which Gill and Sudarshan batted throughout the chase was a treat for cricket purists. Their ability to pierce the field through classical strokes was on full display, and both executed their game plans to absolute perfection. He used his footwork smartly against the spinners to find boundaries and employed the very same approach to reach his century, driving Ravindra Jadeja over extra cover for a boundary to bring up the milestone.
GT will now face RCB in IPL 2026 final at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
Gill reflects on chase
“I think it’s all about, I was in kind of a zone where I was only looking at the gaps and looking at the bowlers and looking at where I want to hit the ball. I wasn’t looking to hit the ball too hard. It was just about see the ball land, see my zones and try to adjust there. (He played as if there were no fielders) That’s what happens when you’re batting well. You just see the gaps and you middle everything. I’m very fortunate, you know, we got a… we got a target of 220. At one point it looked like we were gonna restrict them around 180-190, but we got a total and once we got off to a start, we spoke about, I actually wanted to finish the game, quite sad how I got out”.
On partnership with Sai
“I think we complement each other very well. We understand each other’s game very well. And when we are batting out there, our communication is very good. We know one of us has to take down one of the bowlers. And I think we are very good in deciding who’s going to take down what bowler”.
