"They have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory" - Aakash Chopra on Gujarat Titans' loss to Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that the Gujarat Titans (GT) threw away a match they should have won against the Mumbai Indians (MI) last night in IPL 2022.

The Titans required nine runs off the last over with six wickets in hand and the in-form David Miller and Rahul Tewatia in the middle. However, Daniel Sams bowled a sensational last over and Hardik Pandya's side lost the match by five runs.

While reviewing the GT-MI clash in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra highlighted that the Gujarat Titans lost a match that was theirs for the taking. He elaborated:

"To be very honest, they (Titans) have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They used to finish such matches with their eyes closed but it has not happened yesterday. Gujarat has lost two consecutive matches, if they had won this match, a 'Q' would have been written against their name, which means qualified."

The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player added that the match seemed to be done and dusted in the Gujarat Titans' favor when Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha strung together a century partnership for the opening wicket. Chopra explained:

"You want your openers to play well in such a run chase. You couldn't have got a better start. If MI scored 74 runs in 7.3 overs, here the opening partnership was 106 runs in 12 overs, you needed just 70 runs off the next eight overs, thank you very much, tata bye-bye, let's go home, that's what it seemed."

Chopra pointed out that Gill and Saha's dismissals in the same over altered the course of the match. He observed:

"But when Shubman Gill fell prey to Murugan Ashwin, you also lose your second wicket in the same over. That I thought was a game-changing moment, when Wriddhiman Saha got out because Saha was absolutely sublime, Saha is batting the best that he has ever batted. I have not seen better batting from him in the IPL."

Gill (52 off 36) and Saha (55 off 40) were both caught in the deep while trying to play big shots against Murugan Ashwin. Their dismissals brought the Mumbai Indians back into the game just when the Gujarat Titans seemed to be running away with it.

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"Run-out is a very very big problem" - Aakash Chopra on Hardik Pandya's dismissal during the Gujarat Titans' chase

Hardik Pandya was found short of the crease by an Ishan Kishan direct throw [P/C: iplt20.com]

While observing that Sai Sudharsan got out in a peculiar manner, Aakash Chopra termed Hardik Pandya's run-out a huge problem for the Gujarat Titans. He said:

"When he (Saha) got out, suddenly there were two new batters on the ground. Sai Sudharsan got out in a different fashion, generally you don't get out like that but it happened. Hardik Pandya got run out, run-out is a very very big problem. Ishan Kishan's direct hit was actually critical."

While lauding Daniel Sams for bowling a game-defining final over, the renowned commentator also had a word of praise for Riley Meredith. Chopra elaborated:

"Now everybody was waiting for Rahul Tewatia and David Miller, Riley Meredith bowled the 18th over and gave only five runs. It would have been different if he had not conceded only five runs because Bumrah was taken for runs in the 19th over. And then Daniel Sams - well done, Mumbai Indians - well done."

Meredith, in fact, conceded nine runs in the 18th over of the Gujarat Titans innings. He was hit for a boundary by Pandya off the first ball but conceded only five runs off the remaining five deliveries, with the Gujarat Titans captain also getting run out on the fourth ball.