The 21st match of the IPL 2022 saw Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) handing Gujarat Titans (GT) their maiden loss in the ongoing tournament, as they chased down the 163-run target with 8 wickets in hand in the last over.
Gujarat Titans had batted first after losing the match and thanks to an unbeaten 50 from captain Hardik Pandya and 35 from Abhinav Manohar, put on 162/7 on board in 20 overs. However, the total proved to be inadequate as SRH skipper Kane Williamson hit 57 and Abhishek Sharma made 42.
Nicholas Pooran then slammed 34* with 2 fours and 2 sixes to finish the game with 5 balls in hand.
During the 13th over of the innings, Hardik Pandya had an opportunity to dismiss Williamson’s batting partner Rahul Tripathi. He bowled a well-directed bouncer which Tripathi tried to guide to the third-man boundary.
However, Mohammad Shami instead of going forward backtracked and took the safer route of saving the boundary. Shami not going for the catch did not go down well with Hardik, who was caught on camera yelling at the senior fast bowler.
While Hardik was slammed by cricket fans on Twitter, former England cricketer Graeme Swann defended the GT captain, saying that a show of emotion doesn’t mean that he is a bad captain.
"I will tell you what we shouldn't do though. We shouldn't look at it and say all of a sudden Hardik is not a good captain. The fact that they did not score enough runs lost them the game, not Hardik Pandya's captaincy. He shuffled his packs quite well but of course, your nerves get a bit fried as a skipper or a bowler (in tense situations). It was not Hardik's captaincy but the lack of runs that cost them," Swann told Star Sports.
Meanwhile, his commentary partner Matthew Hayden stressed the importance of a team needing special efforts on the field when defending below-par totals.
"I reckon this was a really pivotal moment in the match, he was bowling at a good speed. Mohammed Shami was on the boundary and he made no effort. In fact, he retreated back to the boundary I won't say he avoided the catch necessarily,” he said.
Hayden said that Mohammad Shami needed to show something special and had the chance to go for that catch, which would have brought some excitement in the team and lifted their spirits.
"He really needed to go harder inside the boundary. When you are not defending much, it's about really working hard for your mates, and taking the effort catches and make the plays. Be it run-out or catches or just assists, in general, to stop a batter from scoring boundaries," he added.
