Ahmedabad, (Samajweekly) After suffering a close five-run loss against Delhi Capitals in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match, Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya took the blame for the defeat, saying that he couldn’t get his rhythm and eventually was not able to finish the game.
Seasoned pacer Shami’s sensational four-fer helped Gujarat Titans restrict Delhi Capitals to 130/8 in 20 overs despite a fighting fifty from Aman Hakim Khan (51 off 44).
Apart from Shami, Mohit Sharma (2-33) and Rashid Khan (1-28) were the other wicket-takers for Titans while Axar Patel (27 off 30) and Ripal Patel (23 off 13) were the other main contributors with the bat after Aman.
In reply, Hardik Pandya scored a fighting unbeaten fifty (59 not out) but it was not enough as a fantastic collective bowling performance from the Delhi bowlers, led by Ishant Sharma (2/23), saw the away team restrict Gujarat Titans to 125/6 in 20 overs and win by five runs Match No. 44 of IPL 2023 at Narendra Modi Stadium here on Tuesday.
“We would have taken 129 on any given day. Just lost a couple of wickets and in the end, Rahul got us back in the game. I tried my best in the end but it was not to be,” Pandya said after the match.
Asked what discussion he had with fellow batter Abhinav Manohar in the final minutes of the match, Pandya said. “We were hoping to get a couple of big overs in the middle but we couldn’t get the rhythm. It was new for Abhinav as well and it boils down to how I could not finish the game.
“Full marks to their bowlers and full ownership I couldn’t finish it,” said Hardik at the post-match presentation.
“Wicket was good enough, it was wicket pressure. They bowled really well, 10 overs for 80 we would have taken. In the end, Rahul got us in the game, otherwise, they were quite ahead. We lost this game because I couldn’t get my rhythm,” he added.
The Gujarat Titans skipper also lauded Shami’s brilliant bowling and said he feels sorry for the pacer.
“I feel sorry for him (Shami), if you bowl like that, and restrict a team to 129 and still not win, the batters disappointed. I don’t think the wicket did a lot but full credit to him,” he said.
The 29-year-old Pandya mentioned that he will take all learning from this game.
Gujarat Titans, who have six wins in nine matches, are at the top of the points table despite the loss against Delhi Capitals.
“There are still lots of games left, we will take all the learning from this game and move on. All these things keep happening, that’s the beauty of IPL. We are still on top of the table but we still need to play good cricket,” said Hardik.
