The Gujarat Titans’ dugout seemed to be at a standstill. They were all on the edge of their seats, even if Sai Sudharsan was in the process of easing the early weight of imminent doom brought on by Shubman Gill’s first-over exit. With his pads still on after ten overs, Gill positioned himself in the middle of the room. The boundary line was not being patrolled by Ashish Nehra. Rather, he sat to the side and engaged in conversation with Sandeep Raju, a performance analyst. Sherfane Rutherford practiced shadows around the IPL trophy, which was positioned a short distance from the dugout and gleamed in the night sky.
In the center, Sudharsan applied his monastic style to the team’s most important match of the year. At that moment, GT’s percentage cricket was keeping MI on its toes, and his Tamil Nadu teammate Washington Sundar picked up on it. Hardik Pandya had to make a crucial choice at the midway point. Four days earlier, when MI lost to PBKS in Lucknow, he justified his decision to choose Ashwani Kumar as the impact substitute rather than Karn Sharma. Raghu Sharma’s leg spin and Ashwani’s medium pace were the main contenders on Friday night as well. As Mahela Jayawardene subsequently disclosed, the original strategy was for MI to get spin on and trap the batsmen using the longer side of the boundary and the grip on the surface. However, they were not prepared for the thick dew that appeared. Ashwani came up with the notion to try nailing yorkers once more.
GT was still not ahead of the curve as they chased MI’s 228/5 at 130/2 in 12 overs. Their determination nevertheless led to a few mini-conferences between Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik, during which they discussed tactics and performed some strenuous towel work on the ball. However, in order to give themselves a genuine opportunity in the chase, Sudharsan and Washington had to pick up speed before the end, knowing that Jasprit Bumrah owned two of the eight overs that remained. The 13th over was the one that could have ended the match.
Trent Boult’s changes in pace didn’t hold as the wet ball continued to skid through. Sundar smashed two consecutive sixes after seeing right through them. The left-armer tried a bluff under pressure. To set up a short-ball subterfuge, he sent square leg to the boundary after pulling his long-off fielder in, but it went full. In an 18-run over, Sundar was able to dig it out and get another boundary down the ground while batting deep in his crease. Nehra stood up as a result, and the equation reached 81 off 7 overs.
A brief silence was then followed by a flip to the proceedings that was fueled by Bumrah. Before they could attempt to attack the fifth over, there was a pause, despite the fact that Washington and Sudharsan had amassed 53 runs from the first four overs. Bumrah and Hardik engaged in conversation while Suryakumar’s left leg and back were treated. Bumrah put Washington down on his face with a brutal yorker just as the play was about to resume. Later, Sudharsan disclosed that the halt had no effect on their rhythm because he and Washington had expected it and continued to concentrate on their next task. However, the wicket created a gap that Bumrah and MI exploited in the closing moments.
Ashwani Kumar, a 23-year-old who was assigned to bowl two important overs under extreme pressure and may have been targeted as a result, walked with his seasoned teammates. As Hardik packed the inner ring on the off and put boundary riders on the leg-side, he nevertheless produced brilliant nine-run overs, striking a full length outside the off-stump on several occasions.
Another crucial moment occurred in between those overs when Gill eventually got up and went to the dressing room 90 balls after being dismissed. The catalyst? Richard Gleeson’s stumps were disturbed by Sudharsan’s unsuccessful attempt at a ramp shot. As Mumbai narrowly won, the opener needed a few moments to gather himself and drag himself away. At the strategic timeout immediately following the dismissal, Jayawardene gave a monologue to his group, and Nehra spoke briefly with Rahul Tewatia.
In response, the finisher hit a spectacular six off a Bumrah full-toss in the 18th over, but only nine runs were scored from the six balls. When Boult came back to dismiss Rutherford, the score had reduced from 54 off 24 to 36 off 12. Shahrukh Khan ended the over with a 97-meter six over square leg, but GT kept losing the rest of the over. Ashwani ended the game to give MI their first-ever Eliminator victory after an injured Gleeson prevented the ball from Tewatia and Shahrukh’s striking arc for three deliveries.
GT skillfully maintained pace for a considerable amount of time, but ultimately lost to a team that has won five titles and learnt to withstand pressure in similar circumstances.
“When you have a winning culture, it’s easier to try and have that same thing going through. Even when you get a new group, we still have a very experienced core group within our ranks. So, the conversations that we have, planning and everything is a roundabout. How can we get better? How can we push through? That winning mentality itself comes through from those senior players,” Jayawardene explained.
“And having that experience, guys who have won trophies does help. And my job is to try and cultivate that for the new guys who’ve come into the squad. After the big auction, we had quite a few new faces, but I think telling them about the history of Mumbai and how we go, how we operate… And have that attitude that we will never die from a situation. We’ll always fight through.”
GT skillfully maintained pace for a considerable amount of time until being thoroughly dismantled at the end by a team that has proven itself resilient to duress over the course of 17 seasons and five championships.
