Gujarat Titans on Thursday lost a close game against the Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat. Being put to bat first, GT rode on Shubman Gill’s 89 to post a score of 199 on the board. It looked like GT were moving towards a comfortable victory but youngster Shashank Singh rode to the occasion to take PBKS home with a ball to spare. After the match, GT’s director of cricket Vikram Solanki dissected the loss, and credited Shashank for his outstanding innings.
‘We should have defended 200’
Putting 200 runs up on the board in front of the home crowd, it looked like GT had a massive advantage going into the second half. However, Shashank smashed an innings of 61 of 29 balls to propel PBKS home. GT’s director of cricket Vikram Solanki said his team should have defended 200 and also touched on the topic of dropped catches. GT dropped at least 5 catches in the match, leading to their defeat.
“We absolutely should have defended 200 and we were in the position. We probably let ourselves down in aspects of the game. We fielded very well in parts. Our ground fielding was outstanding but we put some chances down that would have made a difference,” Solanki said.
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‘Wasn’t surprised at Shashank’s onslaught’
Solanki also said he wasn’t surprised at Shashank’s innings, claiming it’s normal for youngsters to come out and shine in IPL.
“I don’t think anybody gets surprised now with youngsters coming in and doing what they do. It’s the practice that goes into every franchises for sure. Batters are so dynamic in terms of what they are practicing. It just shows that the skill levels are improving. I thought we could have executed a little bit better against him, but I was not surprised. He played very well, all credit to him,” he said.
