3 mistakes GT made in their loss to RR in IPL 2023

Gujarat Titans (GT) suffered their second defeat in IPL 2023 as they went down to last year's runners-up Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a thriller at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, April 16.

Having been asked to bat first, the Titans posted 177/7 in 20 overs, with David Miller top-scoring with 46 off 30 deliveries. In reply, Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya were near unplayable in the powerplay, but scintillating half-centuries by Shimron Hetmyer and skipper Sanju Samson saw the visitors pull off a stunning chase.

Halfway through the 11th over, the Royals were placed at 55/4 when Hetmyer combined forces with Samson. Despite the asking rate being well over 12 per over, the duo launched a counter-attack with a 59-run partnership before Hetmyer saw the team through to the finish line in the final over.

With GT losing their second straight game at home, we look at the three mistakes they made in last night's IPL 2023 bout.

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#1 Slowdown in the middle overs

For a team that has generally scored quickly in the powerplay in IPL 2023, GT managed just 42 runs this time around, with 32 of them coming in the first five overs. They picked up the pace once Hardik Pandya joined Shubman Gill in the middle, only for the former's dismissal to slow things down again.

The score read 91/3 midway through the 11th over when Pandya fell. At the start of the 17th over, the Titans were placed at 125/4. With just 34 runs coming in the space of 33 legal deliveries, it was a slowdown that cost them dearly despite an end-overs surge, particularly with dew setting in.

Such was the impact of the same that RR managed to chase down their target despite being placed precariously with the bat.

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#2 Noor Ahmad instead of Joshua Little as the impact substitute

Noor Ahmad debuted as an impact substitute in the IPL 2023 clash against RR (Picture Credits: BCCI).

GT have often used Joshua Little as their impact substitute in IPL 2023 while bowling second. Against RR, though, they waited until the end of the 12th over to hand Afghanistan's Noor Ahmad a debut.

It was a rather interesting and brave move, considering the amount of dew on the field. Given that the Titans were well-placed to complete a successful defense, Noor's mystery element of being a left-arm wrist-spinner might have prompted them to bring him in.

He even responded with the wicket of Sanju Samson, although he was thrown into the deep end, having to defend seven runs off the final over.

It was a tough initiation into the big league for young Noor and the fact that GT could have gone in with Little's pace, particularly with Alzarri Joseph and Rashid Khan also going for runs, makes their decision all the more baffling.

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#3 Hardik Pandya's bowling changes

The decision-making by GT left a lot to be desired on Sunday (Picture Credits: BCCI).

That Joseph was carted for 47 runs off his three overs threw a spanner into captain Pandya's works. Yet, the GT skipper made multiple questionable moves in his side's IPL 2023 match against RR on Sunday.

It has been well documented that Mohammed Shami isn't quite comfortable when it comes to bowling at the death. Yet, he was given the most important penultimate over of the defense, only for RR to wallop 20 runs off it.

Mohit Sharma, who was the Player of the Match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) and has enough experience of bowling at the death, wasn't even considered despite sending down two economical overs.

It was a day where GT seemed to experiment quite a bit but it all backfired big time with Samson and Hetmyer dictating terms.

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Do GT have reasons to worry about after their loss to RR in IPL 2023? Have your say in the comments section below!

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