Ahmedabad (Gujarat): Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya shouldered the responsibility for GT’s loss against Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League.
Hardik Pandya played the anchor role as GT kept losing wickets at regular intervals on the other end. Pandya played an unbeaten knock of 59(53)* but it wasn’t enough in the end as the difference between the number of runs and balls kept on increasing. “Full marks to the bowlers and full ownership I couldn’t finish it. 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,” said Hardik Pandya after the match.
The pressure started to mount up on GT batters as they were able to score only three boundaries in the final four overs.
“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. We were hoping to get couple of big overs in the middle but we couldn’t get rhythm. It was new for Abhinav as well and it boils down on how I could not finish the game.”
The veteran pace bowler Mohammed Shami’s heroics with the ball allowed GT to restrict DC on a score of 130. But even after producing a sensation spell which included 4 wickets and 11 runs, the defending champions failed to turn the opportunity into victory.
“I feel sorry for him, 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. It is still lots of games left, we will take all 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,” Pandya concluded.
Gujarat Titans will return to on-field action against Rajasthan Royals on Friday.
