‘Aisi innings agar KL Rahul ne kheli hoti to?’- Fans roast Hardik Pandya despite playing a captain’s knock to anchor Gujarat Titans’ inning

The two most recent additions to the Indian Premier League, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, faced off at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday, April 22.

The Gujarat Titans won the toss and elected to bat first, with captain Hardik Pandya describing the pitch as a slow one and outlining his team’s intentions to make the most of it before it deteriorated. They did not get off to a great start as in-form opener Shubman Gill departed for a second-ball duck, which brought Pandya to the crease.

With the ball not coming on to the bat as well as the batting side would have liked, Pandya, along with Wriddhiman Saha, had to go about their business cautiously. They reached 40 in the powerplay without losing any further wickets, bringing up the team’s 50 in the eighth over. Saha played the role of the aggressor in the partnership, and the duo had put on 68 before the wicketkeeper-batter was dismissed for 47 off 37 balls in the 11th over.

Saha’s departure meant that it was time for Pandya to take control, as the subsequent batters found runs hard to come by. Abhinav Manohar fell in the very next over, with Vijay Shankar perishing soon after. Gujarat reached as late as the 17th over, and this was when Pandya decided to take the attack to the opposition and go for a couple of big shots. After bringing up his half-century off 44 balls, he raced to 66 in quick time before finally being dismissed in the final over. In his 50-ball knock, Pandya hit two fours and four sixes as he helped his side reach 135/ 6 in their 20 overs, a respectable total on a challenging surface.

The Lucknow Super Giants bowlers were excellent, taking full advantage of the conditions. Hardik’s brother Krunal was the star performer, taking 2/16 in his four overs, ably supported by Marcus Stoinis, who took 2/20 in his three overs. Amit Mishra and Naveen-ul-haq took a wicket apiece.

In reply, the home side got off to a much quicker start, racing to 50 in the sixth over without losing a wicket. At the time of writing, they had reached 73/1 after nine overs, with Kyle Mayers having departed for a quick-fire 24 off 19 balls. The Lucknow skipper KL Rahul was going strong on 39 off 24 balls, accompanied at the crease by Krunal Pandya, who was on nine.

Here’s a look at how fans reacted to Hardik Pandya’s knock: