New Delhi: Gujarat Titans lost too many wickets in the final five overs of their innings and ended up scoring far less than what was required in their IPL 2026 opener against Punjab Kings, rued skipper Shubman Gill.
Gujarat have a formidable batting line-up featuring Gill, Jos Buttler, Sai Sudharsan and Glenn Phillips, but manaed only 162 for six after taking first strike in Mullanpur on Tuesday.
Punjab’s Cooper Connolly made a fluent 72 as they reached their target with five balls to spare.
“It looked like a 210-220 wicket. We thought 175 would be a good score, but we kept losing wickets and didn’t score much in the last five overs,” Gill refelcted on their loss.
“Once the ball got older, it was difficult to hit it down the ground. In the second innings, rain continued, making the ball wet, which slightly improved batting conditions.
“So I don’t think it (ball) stopped as much in the second innings. But nonetheless, I think we did a decent job…all ifs and buts.
“Hard luck and it wasn’t the game for us, but I think we did decently well. It’s just, you know, keep getting better and keep adding more intensity and keep giving your best,” he added.
Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer lauded the calm and composed approach of Connolly, who said he enjoyed batting on that surface.
“Some of the shots he (Connolly) played were surreal to watch, especially the one off Rashid (Khan)… I was focused on my hand inside, icing it, suddenly we lost two wickets back to back, these things happen in the IPL, you have to stay composed. Cooper was there, he was composed and calm,” Iyer said.
“I was looking forward to the experience of playing with some world-class players, but to put that performance in tonight, very happy. I’m just more of a tempo player, feel the flow of my hands, don’t hit too many big sixes,” Connolly said.
“We were quite relaxed, in a great position out there, nice to get the win.”