Mohammed Shami’s cheeky answer to Ravi Shastri after his efforts against SRH was, “Gujarat is fine, but I don’t want to go there.”

The reigning champion Gujarat Titans and the Aiden Markram-led Sunrisers Hyderabad played in the 62nd game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Monday, May 15, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

As Gujarat Titans beat Hyderabad by a large margin, the play of Shubman Gill and the senior Indian pacer Mohammed Shami made a lot of people take notice. After Gill’s great hundred in the first innings, Shami came out swinging when it was time to get more runs.

The 32-year-old bowler got Anmolpreet Singh, Aiden Markram, and Rahul Tripathi out in the first over of the power play. Also, by sending Heinrich Klassen back to the stand, Shami once again showed his class. Klassen was looking dangerous and had scored 64 runs in 44 balls before the 32-year-old sent him packing.

Ravi Shastri asked Shami what the secret to his success was after the game, and he was even asked about what he ate, to which he gave a funny answer. “Gujarat mein hu, mera khana nahi milega na.” (I’m in Gujarat, so I won’t be able to get the food I like.) This is what Shami said at the end of the game.

Shami also said that even though he wasn’t getting his favorite food, he was still loving the Gujarati food. He said this so that he wouldn’t hurt the feelings of the fans back home.

As Gujarat won by 34 runs, Shami took four wickets and only let 21 runs through in the four overs he threw. With 23 wickets in 13 matches, he has won back the IPL purple cap thanks to his great bowling. Even though Rashid Khan and Shami were tied, Shami got the purple cap because he has a better economy.

With the win, the reigning champions also became the first team in the IPL 2023 to move on to the next round. Gujarat is on top of the points table with 18 points after 13 games. On Sunday, May 21, they will play their last game of the group rounds against Royal Challengers Bangalore and hope to keep winning.