Hardik Pandya, the captain of the Gujarat Titans, has said that he was truly worried when Ruturaj Gaikwad launched an aggressive attack in the IPL 2023 first match which is played in Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 31. Right-handed Gaikwad had hit 92 runs off 50 balls with four fours and nine sixes.
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Hardik Pandya acknowledged that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had a good chance of scoring between 220 and 230 runs with Gaikwad at the plate. However, his dismissal by Alzarri Joseph caused CSK to lose pace, and they were restricted to 178 for seven in 20 overs.
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Hardik Pandya stated that it was difficult for him to control his troops when Gaikwad was hitting runs off solid bowling.
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“We all know the kind of player he is, but at one point in time, CSK were going to score 220-230. We were finding it difficult to understand what areas we should bowl in because he is an all-round cricketer and plays genuine cricket shots. I genuinely felt we couldn’t err at all with him. Some of the shots that he played were not off bad balls; those were good balls, and that made a big difference,” Hardik said in the post-match press conference.
“As a captain, that made my job more difficult, but full credit to him. If he continues the way he’s batting, he’s going to do wonders for Indian cricket. He has the game, and when the time comes, I am sure the Indian cricket team will also back him enough,” Hardik added.
Source: Google
Chasing 183, Shubman Gill scored 63 runs off 36 balls as the Titans romped home with five balls left in their innings.