Gujarat Titans needed just 143 runs to beat Punjab Kings in the IPL 2024 match. However, the visitors were unconvincing and registered a win by just three wickets. The blame for the poor chase lies with captain Shubman Gill, who played a reckless shot to gift his wicket to PBKS. There was no need for that stroke, according to Harbhajan Singh.
He was caught by Kagiso Rabada on Liam Livingstone’s ball. The right-handed batter scored 35 runs off 29 balls, with the help of 5 fours. Apart from him, Sai Sudharsan managed 31. Rahul Tewatia’s 36 not-out sealed the game in Gujarat’s favour.
“What was the need of that shot? Shubman Gill will have to understand the importance of his wicket. You can’t just come and throw away your wicket to put your team into trouble. The chase should have been easy, but the GT batters’ mistake took the game deep. It is high time Gujarat worked on their weakness,” Harbhajan Singh said on Star Sports.
Earlier, Sai Kishore (4 wickets), Noor Ahmed (2 wickets) and Rashid Khan (1 wicket) broke Punjab’s back, and the hosts were bowled out for 142 runs in 20 overs. None of their battles cross the 50-run mark.
Chasing 143 for their fourth win in the 17th season, Gujarat had a similar story, but the target was never big enough to challenge them. Punjab’s stand-in captain, Sam Curran, admitted that his side was 20-25 runs short.
