GT skipper Shubman Gill fined for slow over-rate during IPL 2024 clash against CSK

Things went from bad to worse for the Gujarat Titans (GT) as their skipper, Shubman Gill, was fined ₹ 12 Lakh for a slow over-rate in their 63-run defeat to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Tuesday, March 26. With that, Gill became the first captain to be penalized for the same in IPL 2024.

Coming off a thrilling win in their season opener against the Mumbai Indians (MI), a buoyed GT side bowled first against CSK. However, things immediately went haywire as the bowlers suffered a brutal hammering from the CSK batters from start to finish.

The defending champions amassed 206/6 in their 20 overs, thanks to a pair of 46s by Rachin Ravindra and Ruturaj Gaikwad and a breathtaking half-century from Shivam Dube. CSK's fearsome batting had Gill and company scrambling for options with the ball.

In response, GT surrendered meekly and kept losing wickets at regular intervals to finish 143/8 in 20 overs. After Gill, 8(5), was dismissed in the third over, the other batters couldn't keep up with the required rate and fell away cheaply.

The victory took CSK to the top of the table with two wins in as many games, while GT fell to sixth with a win and a loss.

"We were always playing catch-up" - Shubman Gill

A disappointed Shubman Gill admitted his side was outplayed in all facets by CSK and felt they were playing catch-up throughout their run-chase.

In a repeat of last year's final that saw CSK pull off a last-ball win, Chepauk was treated to a complete performance from the home side.

At the post-match presentation, Gill said:

"They outplayed us when we were batting, their execution was spot on. We backed ourselves to get a decent score in the powerplay and once we didn’t, we were always playing catch-up. It was unfortunate for us. In T20 you can always talk about 10-15 runs here or there, end of the day it’s about how much they got. We always expected to chase 190-200, it was a really good wicket. Felt like we let ourselves down while batting."

Gill remained upbeat about captaining GT after suffering his first defeat as a skipper.

"Lot of new learnings, new experiences and different things. It’s exciting to captain a team like Gujarat Titans, we’ve made it to the finals in the last couple of years so very exciting," added Gill.

Gill was named GT's captain after Hardik Pandya moved to MI in a blockbuster off-season trade.

GT will take on the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at home in their next fixture on Sunday, March 31.