"Ominous Signs...": Aakash Chopra Finds Chink In Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans' Armour In IPL 2022

The Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans (GT) tasted their second loss in the Indian Premier League 2022 on Tuesday as they went down to Punjab Kings by eight wickets. Despite the loss, the new franchise, playing its maiden IPL season, are firmly on top of the 10-team table with 16 points from 10 games (eight wins and two losses). However, they have looked vulnerable of late, especially in the batting department. Former Indian cricket team player Aakash Chopra felt that GT needs to pull up their socks as the race for a place in the play-offs heats up.

"Gujarat, they have obvious flaws. You know that their batting is a little light. You will get tested once in a while. More than once in a while it's getting tested now. It's just that they found new heroes, eight games and eight different man of the matches. That's okay, but if you bat first and score only 140, you are not going to win a game. Nine times out of 10 you are not going to win a game. Once in a while you will, but tonight was not that night. GT were due for a bad game. It came in this way," Chopra told ESPNCricinfo in a video.

"But the reason for worry, in my opinion, is that is that Hardik and Shubman failing together. It has happened not what (on) three or four occasions. That's ominous signs. You may have still gotten out of jail a few times, helped by David Miller and Tewatia but it's not going to work all the time."

While Gill was out for only 9 (6b), GT captain Pandya scored just 1 off seven balls. Gujarat Titans were restricted to 143 for eight by Punjab Kings after they opted to bat. Sai Sudharsan top-scored for the Titans with an unbeaten 65 off 50 balls. In reply, Punjab Kings completed the chase with 24 balls to spare with opener Shikhar Dhawan making 62 off 53 balls.

Among PBKS bowlers, pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada finished with excellent figures of 4/33 in four overs. Sandeep Sharma conceded only 17 runs in his four overs, while Rishi Dhawan bagged a wicket for 26 runs in his full quota of four overs at the D Y Patil Stadium.

Topics mentioned in this article

Gujarat Titans Punjab Kings Hardik Pandya Aakash Chopra Shubman Gill IPL 2022 Cricket