All-star of the match
Six months ago, Shubman Gill thought stepping out to hit his senior bowlers at the Punjab nets was a sign of disrespect. On Thursday, Harbhajan Singh, the man who captained him then, was at the receiving end of a brutal innings that helped Kolkata Knight Riders walk home.
Acquired for INR 1.8 crore (USD 281,000 approx) after a stunning run with India Under-19 at the World Cup in January-February, Gill sat out of the first two games. When he finally got the opportunity, he had to bat at No. 7 for four games and at No. 6 for one outing. On Thursday, an injury to Nitish Rana opened the doors for Gill's promotion to No. 4, ahead of Rinku Singh, who was picked ahead of him in the XI initially.
Earlier in the evening, he'd put down a sitter to reprieve MS Dhoni, not knowing how crucial it could be. But he brushed that aside and batted with the determination and confidence of a man who was well aware of his strengths and his team's needs. His 32-ball half-century was studded with six fours, three of which came inside the first six deliveries he faced.
At the post-game interview, he admitted having felt a hint of pressure of letting go an opportunity on the field. But the man who turned up to bat was a mix of composure and swag in equal measure. The two sixes he hit, off fast bowler KM Asif, were a mark of the control he exhibited over the cut and pull at over 140kph. These were signs of picking lengths early and trusting his natural instincts. On much bouncier wickets in New Zealand during the junior World Cup, this was an effective stroke. But doing it to bowlers at bowling at 140kph-plus was a mark of his class.
The wow moment
As well as he played Harbhajan, Gill's attack that threw Shane Watson off gear was a thing of beauty. The first of his boundaries, off just his second delivery, came off the short-arm jab. But this wasn't going to be easy to execute because Watson got the length ball to stop on him and deviate a wee bit off the seam. Gill got on top of the bounce, held his shape for a split-second and then rolled his wrists nicely to hit this behind square to the boundary.
Now, Watson went wide of the crease and attacked the stumps. Gill, standing outside leg stump, opened the bat face late to steer this wide of the wicketkeeper. This was awareness at its very best. Two boundaries off his first three deliveries set the tone for his imposing knock.
The numbers
At 18 years and 237 days, Gill is the fourth-youngest to score an IPL half-century after his India Under-19 team-mate Prithvi Shaw, Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant.
What they said
"The boy is special, I don't want to hype him up so much, but you can see that he has a lot of years of India blues in him. His ability to hit first-ball boundaries regularly is incredible."
KKR captain Dinesh Karthik is pleased for his young colleague
"I don't know how many runs Shubman Gill will make or if KKR will win, but I know for sure that he isn't going to bat at No. 7 again."
Harsha Bhogle on TV commentary during the match for the host broadcaster