Shashank Singh, who was formerly regarded as a “mistake buy,” performs admirably for the Punjab Kings versus the Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium in IPL 2024. Following the auction, PBKS management made it clear that they wanted a different Shashank due to the confusion that the same name had caused. However, PBKS management demonstrated their faith in the player by watching him smash 61 runs off of 39 deliveries to complete the task.
Gujarat was the overwhelming favorite to triumph on home soil at one point. Shubman Gill, the captain, batted first and got off to a good start, scoring 89 off of 48 deliveries. Sai Sudharsan and Kane Williamson both made significant cameos, but the New Zealand international’s strike rate appeared to be a problem. Towards the close, though, Rahul Tewatia hammered 23* off eight to help GT end the first innings with 199 runs.
Although Jonny Bairstow scored 22 runs, he was removed from the chase despite demonstrating desire. Even though Prabhsimran Singh took over and scored 35 runs, the visitors were once again reduced to 70/4, thus things were not going well for them. Subsequently, GT was supposed to finish the work, but that’s when Shashank caused chaos. Impact player Ashutosh Sharma joined him in the middle and helped PBKS win by three wickets by scoring 31 runs off only 17 deliveries.
Also read: IPL 2024 Who is Shashank Singh? Everything you need to know about Punjab Kings
1. Prapnotihi Yatra, Pratibha Avsara
What’s written on the IPL trophy is “Yatra Pratibha Avsara Prapnotihi.” Meaning when ability and opportunity collide. Tonight in Ahmedabad, that is precisely what took place. In the second match of the 2024 Indian Premier League, Punjab Kings emerged victorious thanks to the impressive play of two relatively unknown Indian players. Prior to the IPL, Shashank garnered media attention for circumstances beyond his control. But with time, he has shown himself to be the finisher Punjab lacked—at least with the bat. On the other side, Ashutosh’s cameo was just as significant, as Punjab eventually crossed the finish line thanks to the pair.
2. Shubman Gill exhibits immaturity in his leadership
Gill’s inexperience as captain was apparent at Motera, despite the fact that the crowd continues to praise him for his outstanding batting. The cricketer didn’t employ Darshan Nalkande until the very last over of the match, despite Azmatuallah Omarzai and Umesh Yadav scoring a lot of runs. Despite being a member of the first team, the decision to use the young pacer was shocking. While he may have regained his form at bat, the young player still needs to improve his captaincy abilities.
3. What is the status of Jitesh Sharma?
Following an incredible IPL 2023, Jitesh Sharma was called up to the Indian T20I team. In Indian colors, he performed a respectable job and nearly guaranteed a spot in the T20 World Cup. It’s worrying, though, because the cricketer hasn’t had a great IPL season thus far. Tonight was his chance to show his worth by winning the game, but he let it slip from his grasp. Jitesh finally scored 16 runs off of eight balls, but that isn’t good enough given that players like Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik are now scoring brilliantly.
The losing skipper, Shubman Gill, said:
I think a couple of catches went down, never easy (to win) when you drop catches. Bowlers did a decent job, when the ball is coming on to the bat, it’s difficult to defend, I wouldn’t say we were short (on runs). The new ball was doing something. 200 was good enough. We were right in the game till about the 15th over. always under pressure with dropped catches. With the way he’s (Nalkande) bowled in the last match and with 7 runs to go, it was a no brainer for us. People who you haven’t seen will come and play knocks like these and that’s the beauty of IPL.
Winning captain Shikhar Dhawan said:
It was an amazing game, very very close, I’m glad the boys did the job. The plan was to give a good start but I got out unfortunately but we were around 60 runs at the end of the powerplay, we kept building partnerships and Shashank came in and played really well. The way Shashank came in and hit those sixes, it was brilliant, the way he hit the balls, it looked effortless. He is playing in the IPL after a long time and he played so well. I will also mention about Ashutosh, he came in and played a good knock under pressure.
Player of the Match, Shashank Singh, said:
Still trying to sink in, I vision these things but turning it into reality feels great. I play cricketing shots, I bat at No. 7 but today I batted at No. 5. The bounce was very good, 200 scored by both teams so the wicket was fantastic. They are the legends of cricket, I don’t see the names, I react to the ball and play my shots accordingly. Couldn’t get much matches before, last to last year for SRH but the management, the coaching staff here has really backed me and I was very confident.
India
