"Poor batting performance" - Shubman Gill slams Kane Williamson and others following defeat to LSG

Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans (GT) lost by 33 runs against the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 21st match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Sunday, April 7, at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

Despite losing the toss, GT got what they wanted as LSG elected to bat first in the match. LSG weren't able to make the most of the decision they made as the opening batsman Quinton de Kock was back in the hut on the 4th ball of the first over. Soon, Devdutt Padikkal perished in the 3rd over and his poor run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 continued.

Following the dismissal of Padikkal, Marcus Stoinis joined KL Rahul in the middle, and together the duo frustrated the GT bowling unit. They weren't very aggressive with the bat and added 73 runs in 62 balls before Rahul was dismissed for 31-ball 33.

Marcus Stoinis tried to accelerate and hit some good shots. However, he fell for 58 in the 15th over. In the end, Nicholas Pooran (32) and Ayush Badoni (20) played with a good strike rate and powered LSG to a total of 163/5.

Chasing the target, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan batted brilliantly and added 54 runs in 39 balls. The opening batters looked comfortable in the middle and built a great foundation for the win.

However, suddenly Gujarat Titans (GT) faced an awful batting collapse and they went from 54/0 to 93/7 in no time. Yash Thakur, Krunal Pandya, and Ravi Bishnoi combined to dismiss Shubman Gill, Kane Williamson, Sai Sudharsan, BR Sharath, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar and Rashid Khan very quickly.

In the end, Rahul Tewatia played a 30-run knock but it wasn't enough for the win as GT were bundled out for 130 in 18.5 overs. For LSG, Yash Thakur was the hero as he bagged a 5-wicket haul. Also, Krunal Pandya picked up three wickets for just 11 runs.

We got a decent start, but we lost wickets in the middle and couldn't recover from that - Shubman Gill

At the post-match presentation ceremony, Shubman Gill was very blunt with his verdict on the match. Shubman Gill blamed his batters for the defeat and praised his bowlers for doing a great job in the match. GT captain said:

"It was a good wicket to bat on, a poor batting performance by us. We got a decent start, but we lost wickets in the middle and couldn't recover from that. Our bowlers were exceptional as they restricted them to 160-odd, just that our batters let us down."

GT are missing the services of David Miller, who has been one of the top performers for the side in the last few years. Talking about him, Shubman Gill said:

"(On missing David Miller) Miller is a kind of a player who can change a game in a couple of overs because I think this total was very gettable for us."

Shubman Gill was dismissed by a Yash Thakur ripper on the last ball of the powerplay. When asked about his dismissal, Shubman Gill said that he was trying to make the most of the powerplay and in the process, he got out. Shubman Gill said:

"(On his dismissal) I thought it was the last over of the powerplay and I just wanted to make the most of it, just that I missed that ball as I tried to play a bit too square. It was tremendous to watch our bowlers bowl, we were looking forward to restricting them around 160-165."