Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill attributed his side’s 29-run defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match at Eden Gardens to poor fielding and dropped catches.
After winning the toss and choosing to field first on May 16, GT struggled defensively, giving away four catching opportunities that proved decisive. Finn Allen was dropped twice, at scores of 14 and 33, before compiling 93 runs from 35 balls. Cameron Green was also reprieved on 23 and made an unbeaten 52, while Angkrish Raghuvanshi was dropped when on 52 and went on to score an unbeaten 82 from 44 deliveries.
KKR capitalised on these chances to post a total of 247 for 2. Gujarat Titans’ response fell short, finishing at 218 for 4 after 20 overs.
Following the defeat, Gill reflected on the impact of the fielding errors. “Looking at the wicket, 200-210 was par score but we dropped too many catches. Pitch was good, the odd one was stopping but I felt we batted well to get to the score we did. No concerns but our fielding could’ve been a lot better. We set a certain standard and dropping 3 sitters – we didn’t deserve to win this one,” he said.
Gill added that it was preferable to make such mistakes now rather than in the knockout stage. He emphasised the importance of rest and recovery ahead of their next encounter in Ahmedabad. “Looking at it that way, best to have a game like this now than in the Qualifiers. I think rest and recover for a couple of days, travel back to Ahmedabad, see how the wicket is and then plan accordingly (for the next game),” he said at the post-match presentations.
In reply to KKR’s total, GT saw significant contributions from Gill, who scored 85 off 49 balls, and Jos Buttler, who made 57 off 35, while Sai Sudharsan returned from retiring hurt to remain unbeaten on 53. Nevertheless, KKR’s bowling attack, led by Sunil Narine with figures of 2 for 29, along with wickets from Cameron Green and Saurabh Dubey, restricted GT to 218 for 4.
The victory lifted KKR to seventh place in the IPL 2026 standings with five wins from 12 matches. GT remained second, holding eight wins from 13 games.