Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Hardik Pandya tasted his first defeat with his new team in their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) season with an eight-wicket loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. During the match, fans noticed an unpleasant incident where the skipper seemingly yelled at veteran Indian bowler Mohammad Shami for not attempting a risky catch as their opponents ran towards a victory.
It was the final ball of the 13th over, which was being bowled by the GT captain himself. After conceding two consecutive sixes at the hands of SRH skipper Kane Williamson, the batting all-rounder tightened his lines before Rahul Tripathi tried another shot, which flew in the direction of Shami at third man.
The 31-year-old pacer did not make an attempt to catch the ball, which ended up falling slightly ahead of him. This earned a fiery response from Pandya, who voiced his displeasure for everyone to see.
And now, the video of Hardik seemingly yelling at Shami for not making an effort has since gone viral, with fans hitting out at the Titans captain for yelling at a player of the stature of Shami.
Hardik was the standout player for GT in the last game, both with the bat and the ball. He scored an unbeaten 50 off 42 balls as the Titans reached a total of 162 runs after coming out to bat first. With the ball, he picked up the important wicket of SRH skipper Williamson in the 17th over, after the New Zealander tried to slog sweep Pandya's off-cutter towards the leg side but instead skied it to long-on. It was Rahul Tewatia who bagged an easy catch to dismiss Williamson.
The damage was already done, however, after the Kiwi smashed Hardik in the 13th over. Before that, the 28-year-old had just conceded five runs in his first two overs. The Titans skipper finished with figures of 1/27 runs in his stipulated four overs.
The defeat slipped GT to fifth on the table, and the Titans will hope to regain their form in their next match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday (April 14).
