Important to move on and come back strong: Shubman Gill

Gujarat Titans (GT), after a seven-day break, entered the clash against Delhi Capitals on April 17 (Wednesday) full of optimism, but the night turned out to be a horrendous one for the home side, who slipped to their worst and most embarrassing defeat in Indian Premier League (IPL) history. 

Asked to bat first on a fresh Ahmedabad wicket, the Titans got off to a poor start, losing four wickets inside the powerplay for the first time in their history. Things then went from bad to worse for GT as they ended up getting bowled out for 89, by some distance their lowest ever total in the IPL. 

Then, in the second innings, their net run rate took a beating as DC chased down the target in just 53 balls to push the Titans to seventh on the points table.

Post the game, a disappointed Shubman Gill insisted on the need for his side to put behind the horror defeat.

“Our batting was very average, and it is important to move on and come back strong,” Gill said at the post match presentation.

“The wicket was alright, if you see some of the dismissals, it had nothing to do with the pitch. Poor shot selection I would say.”

In both IPL 2022 and IPL 2023, GT were in contention for Top 2 at the halfway point, but they currently find themselves in seventh spot, with just three wins. The 2022 champs’ season is at a crossroads, and Gill hoped for his side to go on a winning run in the second half of the season.

“This is halfway of the season and we've won 3 games already. Hopefully we win 5-6 more in the second half like the past couple of years,” the GT skipper said.

DC captain Rishabh Pant, meanwhile, lauded the ‘champion mentality’ shown by his side.

“Lots of things to be pleased about. We talked about the champion thought process and our team showed today that we can play like that. Really happy to see that,” Pant said.

Once DC bundled GT out for 89, Pant said that the team’s mindset was to chase the target as quickly as possible. As it turned out, DC ended up getting home in just 53 balls.

“The only conversation we had before the chase was - let's get it as early as possible, we lost a few run-rate points earlier and we covered it up.”

Delhi Capitals next take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 20 (Saturday).

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