Shubman Gill reflected on Gujarat Titans' 11-run loss to Punjab Kings in their IPL 2025 opener on Tuesday.
Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Shubman Gill lamented that his team conceded too many runs against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) opener on Tuesday, which they lost by 11 runs.
Having been asked to bat first, Punjab Kings capitalised on a fiery start from debutant Priyansh Arya (47) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (97), who forged a 51-run stand for the second wicket. Priyansh was dismissed in the seventh over and despite losing wickets at regular intervals, Shreyas, along with Shashank Singh (44) powered Punjab Kings to a mammoth 243/5 from 20 overs.
Mohammed Siraj (0/54), Rashid Khan (1/48), Kagiso Rabada (1/41) and Prasidh Krishna (0/41) produced expensive spells and to make the matters worse, the Gujarat Titans’ fielding was underwhelming too. In the run chase, Gujarat Titans were off to a moderate start, scoring just 17 runs off the first three overs when the match situation demanded for something extraordinary.
“I think we got our chances when we were bowling and batting. Too many runs were given away. We let ourselves down on the field as well. Those three overs in the middle when we scored 18 runs, that, and the first three overs we didn’t score too many runs. That costed us the game,” Shubman Gill said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Gill hailed Punjab Kings impact player Vijaykumar Vyshak, who showcased some disciplined bowling with figures of 0/28 and even bowled a few yorkers. “Many positives as well. Good start to the tournament I guess. Never easy for someone (Referring to Vyshak) to come in as an Impact player and bowl those yorkers when you have been on the bench for 15 overs,” he added.
“Credit to them for bowling yorkers on the trot. I mean it is always a good batting wicket here to bat on. You might score 240-250, but you have to restrict the opposition as well,” concluded Gill, who plays for Punjab in domestic cricket.
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Vyshak came into the attack in the 15th over, and six overs before that, Gujarat Titans had scored 87 runs. However, Gujarat Titans’ momentum significantly reduced between the 15th and 17th overs, with the hosts managing just 18 runs. At the same phase, Punjab Kings had scored 51 runs.
At the time Vyshak came out to bowl, the WinViz favoured Punjab Kings at 70-30, and after he completed his spell, that increased to 99-1.
Shubman Gill scored 33 runs 14 balls before being dismissed by Glenn Maxwell in the powerplay. Despite getting off to a modest start, Gujarat Titans managed to post a total of 61/1 in the powerplay phase. After Gill’s dismissal, Jos Buttler (54) and Sai Sudharsan (74) gave some hope to Gujarat Titans with an 84-run stand for the second wicket.
However, Arshdeep Singh got rid of Sai Sudharsan in the 13th over. Gujarat Titans’ impact player Sherfane Rutherford did his bit with a 28-ball 46, hitting four fours and three sixes. However, a total of 243 was always going to be a tough ask unless something miraculous happened. Gujarat Titans eventually finished their innings with a score of 232/5 from 20 overs.
Gujarat Titans will get a chance to clinch their first win when they take on Mumbai Indians (MI) in Ahmedabad on Saturday (March 29). Punjab Kings, meanwhile, will next face Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in another away game on April 1.
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