Hardik Pandya highlighted his motto as Gujarat Titans captain after their thrilling five-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2022 clash on Monday.
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Hardik Pandya has started his IPL captaincy journey with a convincing win over Gujarat Titans won by 5 wickets at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. Gujarat Titans won the toss and opted to bowl. Put in to bat, Lucknow Super Giants got off to a shaky start as the pacer Mohammed Shami removed KL Rahul for a duck. And, he soon dismissed Quinton de Kock too. However, the fifties from Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni guided them to put up 158 on the board after 20 overs.
While chasing, Gujarat lost the opener, Shubman Gill, for a duck. But Matthew Wade scored 30 and some quickfire cameos from the middle-order helped them win the game with 2 balls to spare as well.
Mohammed Shami, who won the Man of the Match, said: “I was warmed up well. It was important to get a good start in the first match, I looked to bowl a Test match line and length here. When the ball comes out of your hand like that … (smiles). I have worked very hard on this seam position. People say it is god-gifted, but that’s not the case. I try to come round the wicket to a leftie and make that angle because that’s the most uncomfortable thing for them. I just look to do that. Hardik asked me if I wanted the fourth over on the trot, but I told him to hold me back.”
READ MORE: GT vs LSG: Rahul Tewatia, David Miller guide Gujarat Titans to thrilling victory
Hardik Pandya said after the win: “This was the right game for us to be on either side and learn, but have learnt a lot by winning. Shami is known for his seam positions and he got us to a great start. We would have any day taken 160 on this wicket. Mostly I’ll bat at number four, because I want to take pressure with my experience so that the others can play freely. We want to win as a team and nobody can take the contribution away from anyway. It was quite humid as well, so I wouldn’t have finished Shami’s spell over there. Manohar is some talent to look at with the talent he has. He is someone who you are going to hear about in the future. Tewatia was sensational as well. Getting out to Krunal would have pinched me more had we lost, but now the family is neutral and happy. He got me out and we won the match.”
Meanwhile, Rahul Tewatia, who played a swashbuckling knock and took the team to the finish line, said: “The wicket was good and the communication between Miller and me was to take the game deep and during the strategic break I told Miller I will take chances in the next over as the boundary was smaller on the leg-side, and the ball wasn’t spinning much. Bishnoi was bowling those googlies and after that reverse sweep, the situation was such that I had go after the bowler and had to play my shots. During our camp, I saw Abhinav’s batting and he is a very clean striker and the X-factor of our team and we have been playing together for the last few weeks now and I had complete trust in him that he will play his shots. Playing your shots in the first game with that confidence is really pleasing to see. The plan is to concentrate on the process and that’s what we did during the practice. Ashish (Nehra) has made sure that everyone the squad is in a happy mood.”
