Virender Sehwag, a former cricketer from India, shared his thoughts on Shubman Gill’s captaincy during the recent match between Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad. According to Sehwag, Gill’s performance as captain wasn’t great, which played a part in the Titans losing by 11 runs to the Kings on that Tuesday. Sehwag pointed out that Gill seemed unprepared and wasn’t quick enough to make the right moves on the field.
In this game, Gujarat Titans opted to bowl first but ended up facing some serious batting from the Punjab team. Sehwag specifically criticized Gill for his bowling changes. For instance, he felt it was a mistake to pull Mohammed Siraj out of the attack when he was doing well in the early overs. I felt Shubman Gill’s captaincy didn’t cut it, Sehwag remarked in a discussion on Cricbuzz. He was not ready and didn’t make proactive choices. Siraj was bowling really well, yet he switched him out for Arshad Khan, who ended up giving away 21 runs in that powerplay over. That was a turning point in the match.”
Sehwag pointed out that if Siraj is doing well with the new ball, there’s no reason to save him for later in the innings. He also noted that Siraj ended up getting hit in the later stages, which proved costly. Siraj had initially given away just 14 runs in his first two overs, but Gill decided to bring in Arshad Khan after just two overs instead of letting Siraj continue, especially when Punjab’s Kagiso Rabada was in play. Arshad didn’t have the same luck; he faced a tough time from Punjab’s opener, Priyansh Arya, who hit four boundaries off Arshad in a single over. This really shifted the game’s momentum toward Punjab.
On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer, playing his first match as the captain of Punjab, had a fantastic outing. He smashed an impressive 97 not out off just 42 balls, leading his team to an impressive total of 243 runs for five wickets. Meanwhile, Shashank Singh also played a blistering cameo, scoring 44 runs off just 16 balls. Their combined efforts helped Punjab put up a big challenge.
In response, Gujarat Titans gave it their best shot but finished with 232 runs for five wickets. Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler were the top scorers for Gujarat, with Sudharsan scoring a solid 74 runs off 41 balls, while Buttler contributed 54 runs off 33 balls. Iyer was especially remarkable, hitting nine sixes and five fours. Although he was close to reaching his first IPL century, he couldn’t cross the line as Shashank scored a flurry of runs in the final over, helping to end the Punjab innings in style. This match showed a lot of excitement, and both teams displayed some incredible talent on the field.
