Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya won the match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Mohali during IPL 2023 but at the post-match presentation, Hardik Pandya urged his batters to be a bit more adventurous in the middle overs, in their upcoming IPL matches.
Defending champions GT registered a six-wicket victory over Punjab Kings after Mohit Sharma's (2-/18) excellent return to the IPL and opener Shubman Gill's 49-ball 67.
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However, the game got quite close at the end with GT completing a chase of 154 with a ball to spare, something Hardik did not appreciate.
"To be very honest, I would not appreciate the game going this close from the situation we were in. There was definitely a lot for us to learn from this game. That's the beauty of sports, it's never over till it's over," Hardik said at the post-match presentation.
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"So we will go back to the drawing board. I think we can take a couple more risks in the middle overs. We should take risks and play shots in the middle overs, need to make sure the game doesn't go so deep. The wicket was good but because of the hardness of the soil and wicket, the ball was getting dried up. It was a belter when the new ball was playing," he added.
Coming back to the result, the skipper said, "It will be a tough pill to swallow, taking it this close. Not a big fan of taking the game to the last over."
PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan also expressed his disappointment with the team's batters after another poor show.
