IPL 2023: Blame game in Gujarat Titans camp after defeat to Chennai Super Kings, Vijay Shankar said this

Gujarat Titans middle-order batsman Vijay Shankar suggested that his batsmen could have put up a “better chase” against Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season at Chepauk on Tuesday night.

After winning the toss, GT skipper Hardik Pandya decided to bowl first against CSK on a slow wicket. Chennai did really well putting on 172 runs on the board with a combined effort from all their batsmen including Moeen Ali who came in to bat at number 8. (IPL 2023: Ravindra Jadeja takes another dig at trolls, calls himself CSK’s ‘most valuable asset’)

Considering the conditions, it turned out to be much more than a competitive total as Gujarat Titans had a rare off day to be bundled out for 157 all out in 20 overs.

“I think we could have chased better. We could have taken the game closer,” the Tamil Nadu cricketer told reporters after the match on Tuesday.

our titans are back at home ahead of all important #freedom , #TATAIPL 2023 playoffs pic.twitter.com/psQ4ux8c7P— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) May 24, 2023

The defending champions, chasing 173, lost by 15 runs. GT’s chase was derailed by the CSK spinners, who squeezed the run flow in the middle with Ravindra Jadeja and Mahesh Tikshana keeping things tight and taking wickets as well. (Watch: MS Dhoni enters Chepauk on Rajinikanth’s Kabali track ‘Neruppu Da’ during CSK vs GT clash, video goes viral)

“I think they (CSK) bowled very well in the middle overs. Middle overs are very important for any team chasing a target. We lost wickets. Otherwise, if you see, we were 15. Lost by runs. If there were two batsmen batting, things would have been different. It’s just about losing wickets at the wrong time. Maybe a 20, 30-run partnership in the middle could get us closer to the game,” Shankar said. Said.

He was asked about shuffling the batting order. Shankar had batted brilliantly at No.3 against Royal Challengers Bangalore a few days back but came in against CSK at No.5 with his team at 88/4.

“Actually, if you look at this season as a whole, all the batsmen have played in different positions. So it’s not just in this game… in most games…”

He added, “I think that was the strength of our batting unit as well. Whatever happened in different situations, we were able to adapt and score runs for the team.”

“When you lose a wicket and when you lose a game, things feel strange that we have changed a lot. But we have been playing like this overall from Game 1 till now. I think we have Tweaked our batting. Circumstances and conditions and we did well.”

Shankar and Rashid Khan managed to revive GT’s chances before their dismissals dashed their hopes.

“Even in the over that I got out, I felt I could have calculated a bit better. I could have aimed better. So it was a great learning for us. I think chasing Won a lot of games and this is one of the games we had,” said Shankar, who has scored 301 runs at 160.11 in 12 matches this season.

He was hopeful of the team doing well in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad, where it would take on the winner of the Eliminator between Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Supergiants.

“I think as of now, we are playing a lot of home and away games. So it is just about going out there and adapting to our conditions as quickly as possible. And overall, we are playing amazing cricket. So one game won’t change much. So it’s about regrouping and coming out and giving my best for the team.”

What next for GT?

Gujarat Titans is set to face the winners of the IPL 2023 Eliminator which will be played between Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians. The winner of the second eliminator will face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the final for the coveted IPL title.