Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans is back to the winning ways after getting defeated by Kolkata Knight Riders in its third match as yesterday it defeated Punjab Kings by 6 wickets in a match which was played at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali.
However, the GT skipper Hardik Pandya was not happy with this win as he didn’t like that the match went till the last over especially because they needed to score 154 runs only in order to win it. GT decided to bowl first after winning the toss and the decision was proved correct by the GT bowlers as they wrapped up PBKS at a total of 153/8. The top scorer for PBKS was Matt Short who scored 36 runs (24 balls, 6 fours & 1 six) and GT bowler Mohit Sharma was adjudged as the Player of the Match as he took 2 wickets for 18 runs in his 4 overs.
GT got a good start as the openers Wriddhiman Saha (30 runs, 19 balls, 5 fours) and Shubman Gill (67 runs, 49 balls, 7 fours & 1 six) produced a partnership of 48 runs for the first wicket until Saha got out. Shubman Gill played anchor innings until he got dismissed in the 20th over and at that time, GT needed 6 runs to win in 4 balls.
GT batter Rahul Tewatia once again helped his team in winning a close match by hitting a four on the bowling of Sam Curran but during the presentation, skipper Hardik Pandya expressed his unhappiness over the match going so deep. Hardik Pandya further says that there is a lot for his team to learn from this match and this is the beauty of the game that it is not over until it is completely over. Pandya concludes by saying that they will need to go back to the drawing board.
After Hardik Pandya’s statement, the former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar slammed Shubman Gill for taking the match till the last over. While speaking in a show, Manjrekar states that the champion teams are those teams which take care of their weak areas even when they are winning games and against KKR, the lesson for GT was that they shouldn’t play with just five bowlers on a good pitch.
He further says that the takeaway for GT from the match against PBKS is that the batsman who is well set should try to finish the match by 18th or 19th over and if the match goes till the end then the batter should show temperament like MS Dhoni and not get out. Sanjay Manjrekar adds that Shubman Gill might be asked as to how the game went till the 20th over, Sai Sudarshan batted at the strike rate of 100 and David Miller also played a slow innings.
Should Shubman Gill have played a little faster? What do you think? Let us know your views in this regard.