‘It was just one off day’: Shubman Gill on Hardik Pandya’s sluggish knock

Gujarat Titans opener Shubman Gill on Tuesday said that captain Hardik Pandya had an off day after he failed to get his team over the line against Delhi Capitals in a low-scoring game in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Hardik remained unbeaten on 53-ball 59, but he failed to hit a single boundary in the last thirteen balls he played and Titans fell short in the chase five runs.
“As a player and as a batsman, we are all bound to have one off days. It was just one of those off days. But he did back himself to get those runs but credit to Delhi, they bowled some really good yorkers at the back end,” Gill told reporters after the match.
Shubman said the surface of Ahmedabad, where fast bowlers found plenty of assance, was tough but it was not unplayable.

Hat-trick of sixes in Typical Tewatia style 💥💥💥
When the @gujarat_titans all-rounder nearly pulled off another sensational finish with the bat 🔥
#TATAIPL | #GTvDC pic.twitter.com/kCAz0VlnMc
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“I don’t think the wicket was that bad. We have bowled really well upfront. We failed to have partnerships in the top order which created pressure on the lower order.
“In the low-scoring game, when there is too much pressure after a poor start, you try to take it deep and leave it to the last over. It was a tough wicket but not unplayable,” he said.
Gujarat also had a disastrous start when Wriddhiman Saha was caught behind without scoring off left-arm fast bowler Khaleel Ahmed and Nortje had impact player Shubman Gill caught in the cover off his first ball.
Sharma bowled Vijay Shankar with a superb knuckleball that took the pace of the ball and David Miller left Gujarat in deep trouble at 32-4 when he went for an overambitious ramp shot against Kuldeep Yadav and was clean bowled without scoring.

A resounding away victory for @DelhiCapitals 🥳🥳#DC was full of belief tonight and they reger a narrow 5-run win in Ahmedabad 👏🏻👏🏻
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/VQGP7wSZAj#TATAIPL | #GTvDC pic.twitter.com/GWGiTIshFY
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“The odd one were stopping on the surface. I think their spinners bowled exceptionally well in the middle overs and they dried up the boundaries,” he said.
The Gujarat Titans opener said it was a neck-to-neck game, and it would be unfair to point out where or what we did wrong.
“We lost five runs that one hit. The difference was just one shot, you can’t really figure out the errors. It was almost neck-to-neck. In low-scoring games like these, you can’t say which team made more makes and which team made lesser makes,” he said.

Fifty partnership!
Captain @hardikpandya7 & Abhinav Manohar bring up a timely 5️⃣0️⃣-run partnership 🔥🔥#GT need 42 off 24 now
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/VQGP7wSrKL #TATAIPL | #GTvDC pic.twitter.com/KJy4ASAJ2I
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Hardik Pandya put on a 62-run stand for the fifth wicket with Abhinav Manohar (26), but they failed to change their gears and were kept quiet the Delhi bowlers not giving them easy boundaries.
“At that point see if one of either Hardik or Abhinav one of the batters would have gotten out, it would have been even more difficult for us.
“It was important for them to build the partnership, which they did, and the inability to hit boundaries in the slog overs cost us.
“One or two boundaries and we would have been over the line.”

Deception at its best! 👊🏻
What a ball that from @ImIshant 🔥🔥#GT have lost four wickets now and this is turning out to be a tricky chase!
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/VQGP7wSZAj #TATAIPL | #GTvDC pic.twitter.com/j7IlC7vf0X
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 2, 2023
Shubman admitted that chasing 200 plus total in the T20 is easier than chasing the low-scoring total.
“If you lose a couple of early wickets. It leaves you in limbo whether to hit them out of the game or bat through. It is difficult for teams to chase low-scoring totals,” he said.

Shubman lauded the duo of Aman Khan (51 off 44b) and Ripal Patel (23 off 13b).
“Ripal Patel’s innings was an impactful cameo. He scored 23 runs off 13 balls. Aman also batted beautifully. He built the partnership and it was the need of the hour for them,” he said.
Gujarat still sits pretty atop the table with 12 points, while Delhi is last with six.