IPL 2024: Shubman Gill rues GT’s loss to DC after elimination; talks about Hardik Pandya’s absence

Shubman Gill replaced Hardik Pandya as GT captain after Pandya moved to MI before IPL 2024.

Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill talked about a few things after the franchise was eliminated from the race for IPL 2024 playoffs including Hardik Pandya’s absence from the team and losing crucial moments.

Shubman Gill reflected on his team’s loss against DC after they got knocked out of the Indian Premier League following a washout against KKR in their 13^th fixture. Gujarat failed to chase down the target of 225 against Delhi during Match 40 and lost the match by four runs.

That loss to DC proved crucial as GT’s playoff chances vanished and now they are out of contention having 11 points to their name from 13 matches. The 2022 champions have their last fixture against SRH on May 16 and will be eager to end the campaign on a high with a consolation win.

“Apart from that I think it's just a matter of one match... one match here and there. The match that we lost against Delhi by one run. A match like that could go either way, which I think in the first couple of years a lot of our matches like that went in our favour. At the end of the day, winning and losing, the margin is so close it's hard to identify or pinpoint a moment or a particular area. But I think collectively as a fielding unit we let ourselves down in some of the key moments,” said Gill in the pre-match press conference.

Shubman Gill took over as GT captain after Hardik Pandya accepted the trade to Mumbai Indians. Hardik Pandya led GT to the IPL title in 2022 and the final in 2023.

The 24-year-old stated that missing Hardik did affect their team combination but the other players need to stand up and perform consistently which has been the hallmark of great teams.

"A player of Hardik bhai's caliber, if he's missing out on any team then it would affect the combination of any team. But the beauty of team sport is it's never done by one player. Collectively the team has to come together and perform consistently over some time. Those are the teams that do well. If you look at some of the other teams in the past 16 seasons that have done well, they have played collectively. You wouldn't see one person or two-three people changing the course of a season, or one or two or 16 seasons for that matter,” he added.

Gujarat was marred by an injury to their frontline seamer Mohammed Shami and the lackluster form of wrist spinner Rashid Khan.