Hardik Pandya – That’s the beauty about him (Dhoni), with his mind and the way he uses the bowlers
Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Hardik Pandya wasn’t regretful about Indian Premier League (IPL) Qualifier 1 loss to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Tuesday and after the game, Hardik said that the brilliance Dhoni, the captain, gave the opposing team feel that their team had scored 10 runs more than they had.
Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Hardik Pandya wasn’t regretful about Indian Premier League (IPL) Qualifier 1 loss to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Tuesday.
The defending champions’ innings came up 15 runs short of what MS Dhoni’s team had scored while chasing a 173-run target. After the game, Hardik said that the brilliance of Dhoni, the captain, gave the opposing team feel that their team had scored 10 runs more than they had.
Dhoni remains one of the cleverest cricketers in the world, and he proved that again by his field setting and decision-making on the field against Gujrat. When questioned about the challenge of playing against Dhoni, Hardik had an excellent response.
“That’s the beauty about him (Dhoni), with his mind and the way he uses the bowlers, he’ll make sure that you’ll feel like he’s adding 10 runs. We kept losing wickets; he kept making sure that he used the right bowlers, happy for him as well. It would be a really good sight to meet him on Sunday if we can win the next game,”
he said.
Having chosen to bowl first, Gujarat held Super Kings to a score of 172/7. Ruturaj Gaikwad stole the show with the bat as he laid the platform with a spectacular 60 (44).
After that, Ambati Rayudu (17 off 9) and Ravindra Jadeja (22 off 16) both scored quickly to give CSK a key late flourish and bring the score to a competitive 172/7. The Titans had a difficult time during the chase and were eventually bundled out for 157.
Hardik said that some ‘basic errors’ cost his team the match.
“I think we were quite spot on [with the ball], but we made basic errors. And I think that cost us the game. After the first innings, the kind of wicket and at the same point of time the kind of bowlers we had, I felt we exactly went 15 runs above the score where we should have stopped them,”
Hardik said in a post-match presentation.
“A lot of things we did right. I think it’s just that we bowled a couple of softballs in between. We were executing quite some plans and all of a sudden in between we gave some runs … where we must have given softballs,”
he added.
“No, no, I don’t think so. You know regrets are not good in life. We expected dew might come. It did not come but still, I think we gave 15 runs extra and as a batting unit we lost wickets and we were always chasing the game,”
Hardik said when asked if he regretted his decision at the toss.
Gujarat Titans could only manage 11 runs with 27 needed off the last over as Pathirana picked up the final wicket of Shami while CSK marched into their 10th IPL final, more than any other team in the competition.