Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill did not shy away from criticizing his side’s fielding efforts after their 29-run defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Saturday. After watching Gujarat Titans drop four catches in a costly outing on the field, Gill admitted that his team simply he didn’t deserve to win the contest despite producing spirited batting in the chase.
KKR vs GT, IPL 2026: Highlights | Scorecard
However, Gill tried to look on the bright side of the defeat, suggesting that such mistakes are better made now than during the playoffs.
“We set a certain standard and dropped three sitters, we didn’t deserve to win this. When I look at it, it’s better to have a match like this now than in the qualifiers,” Gill said after the match.
The Gujarat Titans skipper could only smirk as he reflected on the fielding errors that allowed KKR to post a mammoth 247 for 2, which ultimately proved beyond the visitors’ control despite finishing with 218 runs on the board.
GT’s sloppy effort started early in the inning when they gave Finn Allen a few layoffs. An aggressive New Zealand batter made Gujarat pay heavily, smashing a sensational 93 off just 35 deliveries with 10 sixes and four boundaries.
Allen was not the only beneficiary of Gujarat’s poor catch.
Young batsman Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who went on to score 82 off 44 balls, was also killed in the middle overs, while Cameron Green survived another opportunity before contributing a brisk unbeaten 52 off 28 balls.
The trio’s strike led Kolkata Knight Riders to one of their biggest totals of the season and brought Gujarat Titans’ five-match winning streak to an abrupt end.
Gill felt that the pitch at Eden Gardens was not unmanageable and believed that Gujarat would have comfortably stayed in the game if they had pitched better.
“Looking at the wicket, 200-210 was a par score but we dropped too many catches. The pitch was good, the odd one was stopping but I felt we batted well to get the score we did. No worries but our fielding could have been a lot better,” explained Gill.
GT assistant coach Parthiv Patel echoed his captain’s sentiments during the post-match press conference, saying that the biggest difference between the two sides is ultimately the catching.
“I think catching is something that obviously made a huge difference. When you play high-scoring matches against quality batsmen, you don’t get many opportunities. Once you get an opportunity, you have to make sure you take it and I thought that was the difference,” Parthiv Patel said after the match.
Despite the defeat, Gujarat Titans still hold a strong place in the playoffs. But Saturday’s result served as a timely reminder that small lapses in fielding can be decisive during the business end of the tournament.
For Gill, the hope now will be that his team’s worst game day of the season has come at the right time, before the pressure and stakes in the playoffs get even higher.
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Published on:
17 May 2026 08:19 IST
