Shubman Gill rued Gujarat Titans’ narrow loss to Delhi Capitals after missing out on qualification to the playoffs in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Gujarat Titans announced Gill as their new captain for the 17th season of the cash-rich league after Hardik Pandya moved back to Mumbai Indians. Under the Baroda all-rounder’s captaincy, the Titans won the title in 2022 and reached the finals in 2023.
Gill was the leading run-getter in IPL 2023 but couldn’t replicate that form this year. The Gujarat-based franchise is currently placed at No. 8 on the points table and have been eliminated after their last home game against Kolkata Knight Riders was washed out. This is the first time they won’t be playing in the playoffs ever since becoming a part of the tournament in 2022.
“Apart from that I think it’s just a matter of one match… one match here and there. The match that we lost against Delhi by one run. A match like that could go either way, which I think in the first couple of years a lot of our matches like that went in our favour. At the end of the day, winning and losing, the margin is so close it’s hard to identify or pinpoint a moment or a particular area. But I think collectively as a fielding unit we let ourselves down in some of the key moments,” said Gill in the pre-match press conference.
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Shubman Gill speaks about Hardik Pandya’s absence
Gill admitted that Hardik’s absence left a huge void in Titans’ side. However, the talented youngster said that one player doesn’t do all the work in a team sport like cricket. Gill opined that teams who play well as a unit are the ones who succeed.
“A player of Hardik bhai’s calibre, if he’s missing out of any team then it would affect the combination of any team. But the beauty of team sport is it’s never done by one player. Collectively the team has to come together and perform consistently over a period of time. Those are the teams that do well. If you look at some of the other teams in the past 16 seasons that have done well, they have played collectively. You wouldn’t see one person or two-three people changing the course of a season, or one or two or 16 seasons for that matter,” he added.
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The Titans will be playing their last game in IPL 2024 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, May 16 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.