"Good start to the tournament" - Shubman Gill’s shocking take on GT’s loss to PBKS

The Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans (GT) started their journey in the Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025) with the battle against the Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Tuesday, March 25.

Team Gujarat Titans lost against Team Punjab Kings by 11 runs in the 5th match of the IPL 2025 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Also Read: Watch: Arshdeep Singh produces freak dismissal to send back Rahul Tewatia, destroys Sherfane Rutherford’s stumps

We let ourselves down on the field as well - Shubman Gill

Gujarat Titans won the toss and chose to bowl first in the match. The decision backfired as the bowlers were taken to the cleaners and PBKS ended up with a score of 243 for 5.

Chasing the target, Shubman Gill fell early after playing attacking cricket but Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler batted exceptionally to keep GT in the game. However, after their dismissal, things went downhill for GT and despite Sherfane Rutherford's 46, they were restricted to 232/5.

Speaking after the match, Shubman Gill said that they gave away too many runs with the ball and were not very good with the bat as well as on the field. However, he said that they had many positives and dropped a bizarre 'good start to the tournament' remark. Shubman Gill said:

"I think we got our chances when we were bowling and batting. Too many runs were given away. We let ourselves down on the field as well.

"Those three overs in the middle when we scored 18 runs, that and the first three overs we didn't score too many runs. That cost us the game. Many positives as well. Good start to the tournament I guess."

Never easy for someone to come in as an Impact player - Shubman Gill on Vijaykumar Vyshak

Vijaykumar Vyshak turned out to be a game-changer for Punjab Kings after coming in as an Impact Player as he troubled the Gujarat Titans batters. Talking about him, Shubman Gill said that the pacer did a good job. He elaborated:

"Never easy for someone to come in as an Impact player and bowl those yorkers when you have been on the bench for 15 overs. Credit to them for bowling yorkers on the trot.

"I mean it is always a good batting wicket here to bat on. You might score 240-250, but you have to restrict the opposition as well."

How did GT perform in the previous IPL match against PBKS?

Gujarat Titans' previous IPL match against Punjab Kings took place in Mullanpur on April 21, 2024. They displayed a solid all-round performance to defeat PBKS by three wickets.

After being invited to bowl first, GT bowlers controlled the game, with Sai Kishore (4/33) leading the charge. Rashid Khan (1/15) and Noor Ahmad (2/20) kept PBKS under pressure, restricting them to just 142.

Despite a quick start from Prabhsimran Singh (35), PBKS suffered a collapse and lost wickets in clusters as they allowed GT spinners to dominate the middle overs.

While chasing, Gujarat Titans had enough hiccups but they somehow crossed the finish line in the final over. Shubman Gill (35) and Sai Sudharsan (31) built a strong foundation, but wickets at crucial junctures kept PBKS in the hunt.

Liam Livingstone (2/19) and Harshal Patel (3/15) made GT work hard, but Rahul Tewatia’s blistering 18-ball 36 ensured GT got home with five balls to spare.