KL Rahul: I don’t know how it has happened. It happened too fast. I can’t put a finger on where we let the game slip, which was in our pocket. We were quite brilliant with the ball and on the field. 135 is probably par or 10 under par. We used the conditions well. We started pretty well with the bat too. I still can’t say what happened.
At the end of the day, it is just a game, we still have four wins in seven, but this is going to sting for a while. We were well ahead in the game, I wasn’t trying to bat really deep, I was still trying to take the bowlers on that I fancy. They bowled three good overs between Noor and Jayant. Probably should have taken a couple more chances. Not an easy wicket for new batters to come in. Set batters need to finish the game. We missed some boundary opportunities in the end. We should have got it done.
Hardik Pandya: After the two games we lost, this seems like god is telling us I am not always going to take from you, I will give to you too. The way the environment changed when we got wickets, and the belief we had, was wonderful to watch. In a tournament like this, one loss can break you, but such a win can do the opposite. At best, we could have got 10 more. That’s how the wicket was. During the strategic timeout, we spoke about the set batter batting longer because the new batter was going to find it difficult.
When there were 30 required off 30, I felt they were ahead. We started sniffing something when it came down to 27 off 4 overs. A run-a-ball off 10 overs is different, but when it comes down to 24 off 24, you know a mistake can cost you the game. That’s when the game changes. With the amount of cricket Mo has played, I didn’t need to tell him anything. The calmness, planning, and execution he showed, was tremendous. At the same time, Shami showed his experience. Mohit and Shami were tremendous. Special mention to Jayant as well, playing after such a long time. Obviously, Noor, that guy has some talent.
Mohit Sharma is the PotM: Nothing special, it is all normal. Consistency and experience is there, but it is all process. That’s the specialty of this team: whether you do well or badly, you go back and follow the same process. We never lost belief. Hardik kept telling us from ball one that we are winning the match. Just keep doing your job. That belief was always there, that is special. I was only focusing on executing my plan. I tried to be clear in my head. Whether I am bowling the slower bouncer or the yorker, the batter shouldn’t be able to predict.
Gujarat Titans vs Lucknow Super Giants Highlights today, Saturday 22-4-2023. 30th Match (D/N), Indian Premier League 2023, Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
Gujarat Titans win the toss, and, as expected, bat first.
Gujarat Titans team: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Hardik Pandya (capt.), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 Abhinav Manohar, 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Noor Ahmed, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohit Sharma
Lucknow Super Giants team: 1 KL Rahul (capt.), 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Krunal Pandya, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 7 Ayush Badoni, 8 Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Amit Mishra
Head to Head In T20’s: 2
Gujarat Titans Won: 2
Lucknow Super Giants Won: 0
Form guide
(last five completed Matches, most recent first)
Gujarat Titans LWLWW
Lucknow Super Giants WLWWL
Match Timings: 10:00 AM GMT | 3:30 PM Local
Umpires – Akshay Totre, Rod Tucker
TV Umpire – Jayaraman Madanagopal
Match Referee – Rajiv Seth
Reserve Umpire – Pranav Joshi
Match number – IPL 2023 – 30th Match
