Shubman Gill didn’t try to dress things up after Gujarat Titans’ 92-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Dharamsala. The skipper kept it simple: “I don’t think our fielding was at par,” he said. Three dropped catches, a fluffed run-out and several ragged dives helped RCB pile up 254 for 5 – the highest total ever seen in an IPL knock-out.
A single lapse summed it up. In the 14th over Kagiso Rabada spilled Rajat Patidar at deep square, the batter then on 21 from 13. RCB were a manageable 140 for 3 at that stage; six overs later they had added another 114, Patidar finishing with a violent, unbeaten 93 from 33 balls. “I think we were going pretty well up until the 12th, 13th over, you know,” Gill reflected. “Dropping a couple of catches and then our ground fielding was not up to the mark.”
Patidar’s burst was backed by Will Jacks and Glenn Maxwell, who both found the short Dharamsala boundaries to their liking. Bowling wasn’t easy on the shiny, skiddy surface, but Titans still felt a par score was closer to 220 than 250. Fielding coach Mithun Manhas, speaking briefly afterwards, admitted the group had “left 20-25 runs out there”.
Chasing 255 always needed a flyer. Instead GT were 51 for 5 at the end of the powerplay, Mohammed Siraj and the ever-frugal Yash Dayal sharing early wickets. By the tenth over it was 88 for 8. Only Rahul Tewatia, swinging cleanly for a 34-ball fifty, stopped the scoreboard looking completely lopsided; even so, Titans were bowled out for 162 in the final over.
“Under pressure situations, we were not up to the mark,” Gill said, before turning to the what-ifs. “If you get a good powerplay and on a ground like this… any target with the kind of way the wicket was playing and the kind of ground that we were playing at, it could have been chaseable.”
Analytically, the defeat hinged on two basics: hold your catches, and bat the first six overs sensibly. Titans managed neither. Yet their season is not done. The defending champions head to New Chandigarh for Qualifier 2 on 29 May, where they will meet whoever comes through the Eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals.
Veteran analyst Deep Dasgupta, speaking on television, put it plainly: “They’re still one win from another final. Sort the fielding, reassess the powerplay approach, and they’re right back in it.” That feels both accurate and easier said than done, but Titans have earned the right to try.
