IPL 2024, GT vs PBKS: 3 Things That Went Wrong For GT

Gujarat Titans lost their match against the Punjab Kings [AP Photos]Gujarat Titans lost their match against the Punjab Kings [AP Photos]

Punjab Kings emerged victorious against the Gujarat Titans, bouncing back after back-to-back losses against RCB and LSG in the 2024 IPL. Local talents Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, and Ashutosh Sharma were the heroes in this win for the Kings, denying a GT win despite a robust 89 from Shubman Gill.

Winning the toss, Shikhar Dhawan sent the Titans to bat first. They stockpiled 199 runs on the back of a mesmerizing knock from Gill. In reply, the Kings lost wickets in regular phases but Shashank Singh’s unbeaten 61 coupled with 35 and 31 from Prabhsimran and Ashutosh helped them chase the total with a ball to spare.

Let us quickly analyse the three major factors behind Gujrat Titans' loss against the Kings on Thursday.


Sloppy fielding

The Titans have been very poor in the field during this contest. Noor Ahmad spilled an easy fielding, leaving a boundary towards third man in the first half of the second innings. Also, there have been plenty of dropped chances with Sikandar Raza surviving two of them in the eleventh over. Firstly, Noor dropped him at short fine leg, followed by Azmatullah Omarzai spilling the other one at the deep region square of the wicket.

Moreover, impact sub Ashutosh Sharma was dropped twice at the fag end of the chase as well. Umesh yadav dropped an easy chance at deep backward square leg in the 17th over while Sai Sudharsan failed to hold on to a catch in the 18th over off the same batter. Eventually, Ashutosh played a quickfire of 31 in 17 balls to create a massive difference in the contest.


Over-reliance on Mohit Sharma’s Death-overs bowling

The role of Mohit Sharma for the Titans is to be economical and scalp wickets during the second half of the innings that includes the death overs. While Mohit did a superb job in his first three overs, conceding around seven runs per over for a wicket, runs were leaked in excess from the opposite end. Rashid Khan and Omarzai leaked 15 and 16 runs respectively in the 16th and 18th over respectively.

With no Mohammad Shami in the season, the Titans are falling short of a bowler who could complement Mohit. Rashid does not look the same post injury while Umesh Yadav and Darshan Nalkande haven’t been able to curb runs for the team. Eventually, Mohit was taken to the cleaners during the penultimate over as well.


Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma came out of syllabus

Chasing a target of 200 runs in 20 overs, Punjab Kings were 73/4 at the end of nine overs. They did not have a very reliable lower order until today as Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma came out of the syllabus for the Titans.

Even when Jitesh Sharma was dismissed by Rashid in the 16th over, Punjab needed 50 more runs in 27 balls with four wickets in hand. The idea of bringing Ashutosh Sharma who hit a 11-ball fifty to break Yuvraj Singh’s fastest fifty record previously, showed glimpses of his capability today. Shashank and Ashutosh teed apart Omarzai and Mohit for 34 runs between 18th and 19th over to curtail the equation to seven needed off the last over. The pair changed the complexion of the contest, thus extracting a much-needed momentum booster for PBKS.