"It Becomes Difficult For Me," Hardik Pandya on the Impact Player Rule
Rahul Tewatia celebrating after a match-winning shot (Source: AP Photo)
Gujarat Titans, the defending champions, have started the defence of their title with a last-over win over Chennai Super Kings in the opening game of the IPL 2023. They registered a five-wicket win with Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan finishing off a tense chase.
Hardik Pandya, the skipper of Gujarat Titans applauded his team effort in the post-match presentation. However, he accepted that they did put themselves in a bit of trouble but credited Rashid and Tewatia for taking them over the line. He also added that their bowlers did well to restrict Chennai under 200 as MSD-led side was looking good to get much more at one point in time.
This is what Hardik Pandya said,
"Yeah, I mean, it was a brilliant performance. But we did put ourselves in a fix with Rashid and Rahul got us over the line. At one stage, they were cruising towards 200, but we bowled really well to restrict them under the big total,"
Hardik Pandya also mentioned that it becomes difficult for him to pick the correct players due to the impact player rule. He also informs that he realised that bowling hard lengths was the way forward and that's why he decided to bowl Alzarri Jospeh late in the innings.
"It becomes difficult for me to pick the correct players when you have the new impact player rule. But Alzarri and others bowled well to restrict CSK. I realised that bowling hard lengths was the way to go here and hence I asked Alzarri to bowl late in the innings,"
Hardik also applauded Rashid Khan and said that he is brilliant both with the bat and ball and performs well under pressure. Pandya feels that Rashid Khan is a real asset for GT.
"Rashid Khan as always was brilliant with both bat and ball. I mean he is a fantastic player under pressure, he delivers. He is a real asset to the team. He will give you wickets and some runs late down the order,"
However, Hardik also did not shy away from criticising himself and Gill for their shot selections. He mentioned that they need to take the game deep and finish the job to not put extra pressure on the lower order batters in the future games.
"See, Shubman's and my shot selections weren't right that time and we got out. We needed to bat well and take the game deep and finish the job so that we don't put massive responsibility for the players coming down the order."
Rashid Khan was the player of the match for his all-round performance while Shubman Gill was the highest-scorer for Gujarat Titans with 63 off 36 balls. Gujarat Titans will now play their second game on Tuesday, 4th of April, 2023 against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.
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