NEW DELHI: Shubman Gill left Narendra Modi Stadium with a contented smile after guiding Gujarat Titans to a nail-biting five-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL 2026 match on Friday. While the skipper was happy to land the result, he acknowledged that his side would have liked to complete the chase a little sooner.
The win stretched GT’s winning run to three straight games in the season, coming after earlier successes against Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants. With six points from five outings, the Titans have moved up to fourth place on the standings. For KKR, the difficulties continued, with the franchise remaining without a win and sitting at the foot of the table on just one point.
Speaking after the match, Gill said, “Honestly, I don’t think it matters. The only thing that matters is the win. And obviously, getting to the final and winning the cup is something I’m looking forward to. (After you got out, did you think it’s taking longer than you wanted?) Yeah, ideally we would have liked to finish at least an over, couple of overs before. I was quite disappointed with the way I got out. I wanted to stay there until the end and finish it. Hopefully, the next chance I get, I’ll be able to do that.”
Gill also explained the thinking behind extending the spell of their pacers early on. “(On bowling Siraj and Rabada 3 on the trot early) Honestly, the way both of them were bowling— it looked like they could get a wicket on every ball. Giving both of them one extra over in the end, I could see the ball was moving a little bit, so it was a decision. I asked both of them if they were ready to bowl one more because it’s a bit hot, so it’s not easy to bowl three overs in a row,” Gill added.
With Gill steering the chase, Gujarat Titans posted the target of 181 with 19.4 overs to spare. The skipper produced a standout knock of 86 off 50 balls, including eight boundaries and four maximums, setting the tone for the successful pursuit.
On what contributed to his form, Gill said, “(On his batting) Yeah, definitely. I think fitness was something—I got a couple of months before this. Fitness is one thing I worked on. Apart from that, I focused on the mental side of the game too, and tried to improve not only technically, but tactically as well. (How do you get better technically and mentally?) It’s about trying to stay in the present. Don’t think too far ahead or look into your past mistakes. Obviously, you want to learn from them, but you don’t want to dwell on them. That’s a conscious decision every time you go to bat or go into the field—the mind can take you to all sorts of places, so it’s important to stay present.”
