“Just before the start, Hardik pulled his back and couldn’t bowl” - Aashish Kapoor on why Mohit Sharma bowled upfront against MI
Gujarat Titans (GT) assistant coach Aashish Kapoor has explained that skipper Hardik Pandya did not bowl in the match against Mumbai Indians (MI) because he pulled his back before the start of play. Mohit Sharma, who has been the team’s death-overs specialist, thus opened the bowling with Mohammed Shami on Friday, May 12.
Gujarat Titans went down to Mumbai Indians by 27 runs in match number 57 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Sent to bat after losing the toss, MI posted a massive 218/5. In response, GT were held to 191/8.
In a post-match press conference, Kapoor opened up on why Gujarat were forced to alter their bowling plans. The former India cricketer stated:
“We had to change our plans a little bit because, just before the start, Hardik pulled his back. It was a bit stiff and he couldn’t bowl. So, we had to change the whole planning of who had to open the bowling. Hardik was opening the bowling for us all this while. That was the whole reason why he [Mohit Sharma] had to bowl upfront.”
Barring Rashid Khan (4/30), all of Gujarat’s bowlers struggled as Suryakumar Yadav smashed a splendid 103* off 49 balls. Describing the MI batter’s performance as an absolutely brilliant one, Kapoor commented:
“He played quite smartly. We were expecting Noor [Ahmad] might get him out. The way he played Noor, he got out to him in the previous game. Even today, he didn’t take chances against him. Actually the guy who took pressure off him was Vishnu Vinod.
"Once he is set, you all know what Surya can do. When a guy is in that kind of form, it is obviously very difficult for bowlers.”
Yeh 📸 kar gayi... Hard-Hit 💙💙
#MIvGT | #AavaDe | #TATAIPL 2023 https://t.co/BNoPk6yaJK
Suryakumar struck 11 fours and six sixes in his maiden IPL hundred, making a mockery of Gujarat’s bowling.
“He is a top all-rounder” - Aashish Kapoor on Rashid Khan
While Suryakumar was outstanding for MI, Rashid Khan also came up with a brilliant all-round effort for GT. After claiming four wickets with the ball, he also top-scored with 79* off 32 in the chase.
Kapoor was all praise for the versatile Afghanistan cricketer. Reflecting on Rashid's stupendous performance in a losing cause, he commented:
"We all know that Rashid is a top-class player. There is no doubt about it and people look at him as a spinner, but he has proven that he is a top all-rounder at least in this format. Till right now, he didn't have to bat. I think he has batted just one ball before this game.
“Last year he got a lot of batting, and he won a lot of matches for us. This year this is the first time where he got a decent inning in, where he got some balls to bat and he almost pulled it off. If we had one or two good overs upfront, maybe we would have got even closer.”
𝐀 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 💙
#TitansFAM, use an emoji to describe this 𝙍𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙙 𝙆𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙬 in the comments 👇
#MIvGT | #AavaDe | #TATAIPL 2023 https://t.co/QKxgHeKFvT
Rashid struck three fours and 10 sixes in his blazing knock to lift Gujarat from 103/8 to 191/8.