Gujarat Titans began their IPL 2026 campaign with a narrow three-wicket loss against Punjab Kings in a thrilling match in New Chandigarh on Tuesday.
But the main talking point was whether Shubman Gill made a tactical mistake as captain.
One of the biggest positives was the spell from Prasidh Krishna, who almost turned the match around in the middle overs. At a time when Punjab Kings were comfortably chasing the target, he stepped in and removed their captain Shreyas Iyer. In the same over, he also dismissed Shashank Singh and Marcus Stoinis, suddenly bringing GT back into the contest.
However, the timing of his introduction into the attack raised questions. He was brought in quite late, when Punjab needed only 53 runs from eight overs. From there, he was asked to bowl four overs continuously, which is very tough for any fast bowler. Despite that, he did well in his first three overs, conceding just 15 runs. But in his final over, he went for 14 runs, which eased the pressure. His spell kept GT in the game, but earlier use might have made a bigger impact.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan, speaking on Cricbuzz, also questioned the move, saying that bringing Prasidh Krishna so late and asking him to bowl four overs in a row at the back end was surprising and difficult to understand.
“Prasidh Krishna coming in to ball four in four at the back end i was like 13th over what they doing how’s this going to be possible,” Michael Vaughan said.
Another point was the usage of Mohammed Siraj. He bowled only two overs in the powerplay and was not used later. Considering his experience, he could have been tried in the middle overs to control the game.
There was also a key moment when Shubman Gill brought in debutant Ashok Sharma against Shreyas Iyer. The plan was to use short balls, but it did not work as expected, and he was hit for two sixes, shifting momentum back to Punjab.
Overall, GT had their moments, but a few tactical calls did not go in their favour.
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Batting first, Gujarat Titans scored 162/6 in 20 overs, which looked a bit low for that pitch. Shubman Gill made 39 runs, while Jos Buttler scored 38 and Glenn Phillips added 25 to help the team reach a decent total. For Punjab Kings, Vijaykumar Vyshak took three wickets and Yuzvendra Chahal picked up two.
While chasing, Punjab lost an early wicket but then added 76 runs through a strong partnership between Prabhsimran Singh and debutant Cooper Connolly. Even though Punjab lost a few quick wickets later and were under some pressure, Connolly played a brilliant knock of 72 not out off 44 balls and helped his team win the match by three wickets.
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