On Saturday, May 4 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Aakash Chopra was taken aback by the way Shubman Gill lost his wicket during Gujarat Titans’ (GT) defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Gujarat was asked to bat first by Faf du Plessis, but Gill and Wriddhiman Saha found it difficult to adjust to the circumstances. When Mohammed Siraj got his wicket in the second over, Saha was the first to be removed from the game. The Hyderabad pacer removed Gill in his second over as he attempted to whip a ball over mid-on but could only manage a leading edge that went straight to Vijaykumar Vyshak at deep point. The Titans’ most prolific batsman, Sai Sudharsan, was out of the game in the last powerplay over with the score languishing at 19/3.
Chopra pointed out that the pitch was still covered due to rain in the days preceding the game, so Siraj was able to take advantage of the surface’s assistance for the pacers. According to the former cricket player turned broadcaster, Shubman Gill rarely performs as well as he did against RCB.
“After losing the toss, the Gujarati team was asked to bat first. In six overs, they scored 23 runs, and three players were removed: Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill, and Sai Sudharsan. So far this season, this powerplay has been the slowest. Dissecting Gujarat’s batting disaster on his YouTube channel, the former India opener stated, “They had scored 30 runs and lost four wickets against DC.”
“There has been rain for the past three days, and the field was covered. Siraj took two wickets with the help of a small amount of spice. Both of the openers were benched. Wriddhiman Saha’s ejection makes sense, but Gill’s shot upset me. It is unusual that we have witnessed him leaving like that.
Then Cameron Green’s ball was also visited by Sai Sudharsan, the picture of consistency, Aakash Chopra continued.
Shahrukh Khan and David Miller put together a 61-run partnership off 37 balls to manage a small comeback for the previous champions after the first three wickets fell within six overs. But they left in back-to-back overs, which set the Titans back once again. Despite having a good innings, Rahul Tewatia could not receive any help from the other end. Gujarat was bowled out for 147 by RCB, making history in the IPL 2024 by bowling out a side.
“It isn’t as though wickets stopped falling after that. David Miller was there for a while along with Shahrukh Khan. But wickets kept falling, whether it was from Mohammed Siraj, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Dayal, or Cameron Green, and eventually the team was all out. RCB got every team all out for the first time this season,” he remarked.
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“In that, there were also two run-outs. Shahrukh Khan was out by a superb direct shot from Virat Kohli, and a final run-out resulted in the removal of another wicket. They took some nice catches, too. The catch made by Vijaykumar Vyshak was excellent. Although Rahul Tewatia made a brief appearance, 147 was a relatively low total. Gujarat’s batting is not displaying its strength, according to Chopra.
RCB crushed the Titans with a 92-run opening stand between du Plessis (64 off 23 balls) and Virat Kohli (42 off 27 balls) during the powerplay. Despite Joshua Little’s respectable four-for, the hosts eventually prevailed by four wickets with 38 balls remaining.
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