IPL 2022, GT vs PBKS | I back my decision to bat first, says Hardik Pandya

Gujarat Titans lost their second game of IPL 2022 after they were defeated comprehensively by 8 wickets by the Punjab Kings at the DY Patil stadium in match number 48. Punjab Kings put on a clinical show against the Gujarat-based franchise as they dominated all departments of the game throughout the match and never gave their opponents a chance to get the upper hand in the game. Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya defended his decision to bat first after winning the toss.

Hardik Pandya was of the opinion that 170 would have been an ideal score for his side had they not lost wickets at regular intervals. "Obviously, we were not even close to par. 170 would have been an ideal score but we kept losing wickets and did not get any rhythm. I back my decision to bat first because we need to put ourselves in difficult situations where we come out of our comfort zone," Hardik Pandya said at the post-match presentation.

"We've been doing well chasing but we wanted to make sure that we put our batters under pressure so that when the right game comes and we have to bat first, we should know how we have to go. It was an exercise which we wanted to try".

He rued the fact that they knew that ball might do a bit something early on and yet they kept losing wickets which did not allow them to gain momentum. "We knew the new ball might do something, but we kept losing wickets. If you keep losing wickets no matter the conditions, your batting is always going to be under pressure. We didn't get the start we wanted but I'll take the loss as a learning curve and as I said we need to come out of our comfort zone, try to bat first and put up some totals as well.