‘I feel sorry for him’: Hardik Pandya hails Mohammed Shami, blames himself for defeat against DC

It was a shock defeat for the table-toppers GT against the bottom-placed DC at the Narendra Modi stadium. Chasing 131 runs on a decent deck, the Titans’ batting collapsed and could only manage 125 runs at the end of their overs.

GT skipper Hardik Pandya remained unbeaten but failed to take his team home. His 53-ball 59 was not enough for the Titans. But Mohammed Shami was excellent for them earlier with the ball. The pacer rattled DC with a stellar spell of 4/11 in four overs.

Shami’s fiery bowling had DC at 23/5 at one stage, and it was unfortunate that the defending champions lost from such an advantageous state. And Pandya said he feels sorry for Shami as they couldn’t get the victory despite his outstanding bowling display.

“I feel sorry for him (Shami),” Pandya said when asked about Shami’s fiery spell.

“If you bowl like that, then you get the team on 129 (130), I think batters disappointed. I don’t think the ball did a lot. I think it’s just that Mohammed Shami’s skill set which he has and he made the ball talk,” Pandya added.

The player took his own name repeatedly in the post-match interview and blamed himself for not ensuring the victory. The GT skipper said he failed to find the rhythm and that was particularly the reason for their defeat.

“As I said, batters and particularly myself did not finish and we disappointed him. It’s still a lot of games left. We’ll take all the learnings from this game and rectify it a little better and move on,” he concluded.

Despite the loss, the Titans remain on top of the table with 12 points. They will be up against Rajasthan Royals in their next match on Friday (May 5). Delhi Capitals remain afloat in the tournament with the win. They are still at the bottom (6 pts in 9 games) and face Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday (May 6).