Gujarat Titans (GT) suffered back-to-back defeats right ahead of the IPL 2025 playoffs following hefty 83-run loss against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their last league match at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on May 25, Sunday.
Shubman Gill rues GT's 83-run defeat against CSK
Despite the big defeat, which caused a substantial drop in their Net Run Rate, the Shubman Gill-led Titans remain at the top of the table with 18 points after completing all 14 of their league matches. To secure a top-two finish, GT now depend on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (17 points) losing their final league match against the Lucknow Super Kings. This is critical because a win for either the Mumbai Indians (16 points) or the Punjab Kings (17 points) in their upcoming match would see them surpass the Titans in the standings.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill expressed his disappointment after GT's painful defeat. On being asked about GT's dressing room mood, the newly appointed India's Test captain said it's a hard pill to swallow.
"I think the game pretty much went away from us in the powerplay, we never really came back. Chasing 230 is always a tricky target. Teams already eliminated have nothing to lose and they come out all guns blazing. We weren't able to stay calm under pressure and I think we gave in to pressure. It's very important to control runs in the middle overs. If you are not going to do that it's going to be challenging. That's where we were lacking in the last two games. (Mood in the dressing room) This one would be a hard pill to swallow for us. The bright side is that we have two or three games left so boys will be motivated to play in Mohali. Fortunately for me, going back to by hometown... played a lot of cricket there and it's going to be a really exciting," Gill said at the post-match presentation.
Talking about the match, Gujarat Titans faced a formidable target of 231 runs, thanks to Dewald Brevis' blistering 23-ball 57. Their chase got off to a shaky start, as they managed only 35 runs in the Power Play while losing key wickets. In-form captain Shubman Gill, along with Jos Buttler and Sherfane Rutherford, were all dismissed early. The Gujarat side ultimately struggled to build any significant partnerships and was bowled out for just 147 runs in 18.3 overs.