"The ball was stopping": Shubman Gill blames pitch for GT's loss to LSG

The Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans (GT) locked horns with the Rishabh Pant-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 26th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

Team Gujarat Titans lost the match against Team Lucknow Super Giants by 6 wickets on Saturday, April 12, at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.

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Wicket wasn't easy to hit from the get-go - Shubman Gill

Losing the toss and batting first in the match, the Gujarat Titans ended up with a total of 180 for 6. Shubman Gill (60) and Sai Sudharsan (56) once again took GT off to a great start, but the failure of the middle order led to them being restricted under the score of 200.

Defending the score, Gujarat Titans bowlers were unable to pick wickets at regular intervals and Lucknow Super Giants completed the run-chase in 19.3 overs.

Speaking after the match, GT captain Shubman Gill said that the pitch was not an easy one to bat, and losing back-to-back wickets made things tough for them. He stated:

"Wicket wasn't easy to hit from the get-go. This was the conversation that if there's one batsman set, we have to play at least 17-18 overs so that we can get a good 200-220 total on the board. Losing back-to-back wickets didn't help our cause. The ball was stopping, it wasn't an easy wicket. Our strike rotation in the middle wasn't as good as we expected and it's something we need to work on."

There was a bit of dew after the 10-11th over when we were bowling - Shubman Gill

While talking about their plans against aggressive batters, Shubman Gill said that they always go for wickets. He stated:

"(Mindset against aggressive batters) Always looking to take wickets, that was the conversation. Yes, we were behind in the game but if we get 2-3 wickets, the match can go very deep and it did. There was a bit of dew after the 10-11th over when we were bowling."

Shubman Gill further said that he was happy with the efforts of his team as they took the match to the final over. He said:

"The ball didn't stop as much as we thought. When you need 30 off 30 and if the match goes to the final over, it's always a good sign for us. That was the conversation in the second timeout that we are going to take this game as deep as possible."

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

In their previous IPL match against the Lucknow Super Giants, Gujarat Titans performed poorly and suffered a crushing 33-run defeat. It was their first-ever loss to LSG in IPL history.

Bowling first in the match, the Gujarat Titans bowling unit failed to do a good job and allowed Lucknow Super Giants to post 163/5 on the board. Umesh Yadav and Darshan Nalkande bagged two wickets each while Rashid Khan took one wicket in the innings.

Chasing a gettable 164 in Lucknow, GT started very well but crumbled under pressure, collapsing from 54 without loss to 130 all out. Sai Sudharsan played an elegant knock of 31 off 23 balls, while Shubman Gill scored 19 off 21 as they added 54 inside the powerplay.

However, things took a sharp turn with the dismissal of Gill as it opened the floodgates. From there, GT lost wickets in clusters as LSG pacer Yash Thakur wreaked havoc, picking up 5/30 in a fiery spell and bundled out Gujarat Titans for 130 in 18.5 overs.