Netizens made fun of the God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar after Shubman Gill struck his second Indian Premier League (IPL) century in a row in a recent match between the Gujarat Titans (GT) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The prime reason behind Sachin Tendulkar becoming a butt of jokes on social media is his daughter, Sara Tendulkar, who is allegedly in a relationship with Shubman Gill.
Shubman Gill is reportedly in a relationship with Sara Tendulkar – both regularly featured on each other's Instagram profiles not so long ago.
And it isn't the first time Sachin Tendulkar found himself among the top trends due to Shubman Gill's heroics on the field. In January, hilarious Sachin Tendulkar memes took Twitter by storm after Shubman Gill smashed his maiden T20I hundred for India against New Zealand in Ahmedabad.
At the time, Twitter users made Shubman Gill the son-in-law of Sachin Tendulkar as they claimed that the former India captain would not get a better man for his daughter Sara Tendulkar.
https://twitter.com/ImNeha29/status/1660494139291746305
Sachin Tendulkar's mockery on the internet came after Shubman Gill ended RCB's dream of qualifying for the playoffs with a stunning unbeaten century at the Mangalam Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, leaving the home side's fans in tears.
Shubman Gill's effort was all the more important for the defending champions given that Virat Kohli's record seventh IPL ton had helped RCB to a massive total of 197/5 in their allocated 20 overs.
However, Shubman Gill overshadowed the former India and RCB captain's heroics as he smashed a blistering 104* off 52 deliveries, sealing a magnificent win over RCB in the final over of the contest in Bengaluru.
It is worth noting that Shubman Gill is said to be Virat Kohli's heir-apparent in cricket, and following in the footsteps of his idol, the Punjab-born batter slammed a second consecutive hundred in the tournament to power Gujarat Titans to a six-wicket triumph over the home favorites.
GT's win meant RCB's wait for a maiden IPL trophy extended to another year. Ironically, despite having Virat Kohli as part of their side, the franchise has spent 16 futile years without winning a title in the cash-rich league.
Speaking about Shubman Gill's performance in the IPL, a cricket website had wholesome praise for him, describing him as a “rare” talent.
“Gill has hit 23 sixes in IPL 2023. He hit eight of them on Sunday in Bangalore, coming close to bettering his best tally across a whole season in one innings. His game is – not changing – but expanding. He is looking at the areas he's always been strong in and instead of hitting balls all along the carpet he's raising them up onto the roof: seven over mid-on, four over mid-off, and seven over midwicket,” the publication said.
“In each of the last two IPL seasons, Gill was among the top five four-hitters. Even in 2023, he's up at No. 3. He pierces gaps as easy as the rest of us stub our toes. Without even trying. But where previously he was content to play this way, this year his batting has reached new heights and having tasted that rarefied air, he has decided to break free of a limit he seems to have imposed upon himself. He has begun to look for sixes,” the website added.
“There are caveats, of course. He calls home a ground – Ahmedabad – where 31% of the total runs scored have come in sixes. It was there that he ransacked 68 off 37 against Lucknow Super Giants before finding his first four of the night. He made do with just two fours and still finished 94 not out, with seven sixes,” the media outlet elaborated.
“India's biggest superstars bat to a template. From Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli, they minimise risk. They like to take their time, get themselves set and then, if needed, go bang. They are freight trains. Solid, reliable, safe.”
“Gill fits comfortably into this category. He gets the same kind of praise. Even the same kind of criticism. Anybody who's ever raised a voice against him talks about his strike rate. And yet the only thing that came anywhere close to bugging him this IPL was he wasn't able to score those hundreds. This is a product of the system that made him. Indian cricket rates batters by the runs they score. The world out there though has started to expect more.”
“Batting moves forward with the risk-takers. And Gill has decided to become one of them. According to ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball data, he has played a lofted shot 75 times in IPL 2023. So, on average, he's been looking for a six once every 6.5 balls. That is up from 7.3 in both 2022 and 2021, which is up from 7.6 in 2020 which is up from 8.2 in 2019.”
“This is good news. After all, culture is set by the king and if he sees fit to build on a game that was already close to perfect, everybody else will have no choice but to follow,” it concluded.
Meanwhile, former India opener Aakash Chopra pointed out that Shubman Gill bettered whatever Virat Kohli did in their clash.
“This is difficult. This is one of those games where you should actually give it jointly and let us give it jointly. It doesn't affect my health, we can do that. So I would say that Kohli and Shubman Gill were both my most valuable players. One guru and the other his disciple,” the cricketer-turned-commentator said on his YouTube channel.
“Firstly Virat Kohli – Faf du Plessis got out early this time based on his standards. Glenn Maxwell was also dismissed early and then you suddenly realize that only one (among the ‘KGF') was left. He kept fighting till the end. Anuj Rawat did score a few runs in the end but he is also batting off-position,” Aakash Chopra explained.
“Shubman comes in the second innings and he just betters whatever Virat Kohli has done. The opening partnership was not that good but then came Vijay Shankar, there was a big partnership with him. Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli have both scored two consecutive centuries,” he reckoned.