In IPL cricket, Gujarat Titans are unquestionably the masters of the chase. They have emerged victorious from 16 out of 22 games in which they have batted second, frequently exhibiting remarkable comebacks. On a particular occasion, Wednesday night, Shubman Gill, their new captain, couldn’t resist sharing a casual remark about writing them off in the delightful afterglow.
On a pitch that appeared to be a little difficult to score runs on, the Titans had given up 196 runs. Sanju Samson, the captain of the Rajasthan Royals, stated that there was no dew and that the ball bounced on the lower side, making it more difficult to go under the ball and make huge shots. The par score, he indicated, was about 180.
As he explained how he and his squad approach a T20 chase, Gill stated, “We were targeting 45 in three overs and that is very much gettable.” “At the time, the thinking was that you only needed two hits in an over to score fifteen runs each over. According to maths, both batters must score 22 runs in nine balls. If you approach it that way, you’ll notice that it will take three hits in nine balls, and if one of them goes crazy, the match will end in two balls and three strikes. If there’s an additional batter there, [Impact sub] makes a difference. However, the mindset that needs to be changed to make things easier and simpler is the belief that 45 runs in three overs just requires two hits every over.”
Gill made 72 off 44 balls on his own. It was a magnificent innings, particularly the way he attacked the middle-overs bankers for the Royals, Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin. When he fell in the 16th over while attempting to knock a third boundary in three balls against Chahal, the Titans captain appeared to be going it alone. He exited the pitch by slamming his bat into the ground. At that moment, the Titans, who had only won two of their previous five games, needed to score 64 runs off 28 balls.
Gill stated, “Very happy with the way Rashid [Khan] bhai and Rahul [Tewatia] bhai finished the game for us. I would have loved to finish the game [myself].” We played terrible cricket throughout the awful phase, which is why we lost, even though I felt we dominated more than 50% of the game in the last couple of games. We were somewhat down in this game, but we were there and about, and it’s always a wonderful feeling to win on the final ball.”
In the final over of the IPL, the Titans have chased down 15 or more runs four times (out of eight tries). After that, they left the opposing captain speechless.
“It’s really difficult to talk right now,” declared Samson, who finished with an undefeated 68 off 38. “When the captain loses a game and has to report where we actually lost, it’s the hardest job in the competition. After a few hours, when the intensity of the sorrow subsides, I might tell you the precise location of our loss.
“The Gujarat Titans deserve recognition for their bowling, batting, and fighting styles. I believed that a fighting score of about 180 was achievable when I was batting. Shimron Hetmyer’s dominance towards the conclusion of the innings and our total of 196, in my opinion, indicated that we had won on this track. I believe there wasn’t any dew. We should have won because the ground was low and rather dry. Our bowling lineup was adequate.”