The outcome of the Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Titans (RCB vs GT) match could have been different had Shubman Gill changed the bowlers well in the death overs while they were trying to defend their total of 205 runs.
Former Team India opener Virender Sehwag raised questions on the decision of GT captain Shubman Gill during the match. Bengaluru eventually won the match with 5 wickets and 7 balls remaining.
Brilliant innings from Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal ensure RCB win vs GT
In response to Sai Sudarshan’s century, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal scored half-centuries. Thanks to the struggling efforts of both the batsmen, RCB came close to the target score.
RCB needed 35 runs in the last five overs. in 15th and 16th Bengaluru could score only 13 runs in the overs of the second innings. The GT still had a chance to keep pace. Gill had experienced fast bowler Mohammed Siraj for the remaining three overs of the match.
Instead of handing the ball to Siraj, Shubman Gill brought Manav Suthar into the attack and he plundered 15 runs, taking RCB instantly closer to the finish line. Tim David and Krunal Pandya ensured victory for RCB at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Virender Sehwag is unhappy with Shubman Gill’s bowling strategy
Virender Sehwag said that if Gill asked Siraj to bowl at the crucial moment of the match, RCB would be under pressure as Siraj was in form and even got a wicket in his first spell of the match. Handing the ball to an inexperienced bowler exposed Gill’s lack of courage and lack of experience.
Virender Sehwag said on Cricbuzz, “When 22-25 runs were needed in the last three overs, and if Mohammed Siraj had come at that time and taken a wicket, then probably 20 runs were needed in 2 overs, and who knows what would have happened from there. They could have at least taken the game to the last over. The match did not even go till the last over.”
“I think the captain’s calculations were a bit wrong there. Okay, Prasidh Krishna and Rashid Khan were hit for runs, but it is the captain’s job to bring them back into the attack. If you think you can’t use a bowler because he has given away 31 runs in two overs, then you have lost courage, right? It means you have given up. I think that was the mistake right there,” he said.
Gill told where he went wrong
After the match, Shubman Gill claimed that they were in contention until the power play. But their grip started loosening in the middle overs of the match and ultimately the match ended in defeat.
“I mean at the end of the power play, I think we were in a good position. It was all about taking wickets in the middle overs, which I think we weren’t able to do once the power play ended,” GT captain Shubman Gill said in the post-match presentation.
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