Punjab Kings defeated Gujarat Titans by 11 runs in their opening game in the IPL 2025. Captain Shreyas Iyer led by example, scoring 97* runs in the first innings, while Priyansh Arya and Shashank Singh played valuable knocks of 47 and 44* runs respectively. Courtesy of their terrific effort, the visitors posted 243 runs in the first innings. For Gujarat bowlers, it was a night to forget as none of their plans worked at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Mohammed Siraj leaked 54 runs in his four overs while Rashid Khan leaked 48. They failed to execute and Punjab batters took advantage of that. They didn’t come up with a different plan at any stage and that’s a thing that the captain Shubman Gill and coach Ashish Nehra need to discuss ahead of the next match.
The hosts also decided to go with the opening pair of Gill and Sai Sudharsan, which is not bad but not trying Jos Buttler at the top of the order in a T20 game is a bold call. The England international is arguably one of the best white-ball batters in the world but he was moved down to number three. Sudharsan, nevertheless, performed well, scoring 74 runs off 41 deliveries but Buttler at three couldn’t adjust to his position.
He made 54 runs off 33 deliveries but departed during a tricky situation. Credit goes to Punjab bowlers, and particularly Impact sub Vijaykumar Vyshak, who conceded only 10 runs in his first two overs. Marco Jansen bowled a great over during that spell and that pushed Gujarat out of the contest. Sherfane Rutherford tried to pull things back, but it wasn’t enough in the end.
Gujarat need to rethink their strategies. Bowling changes weren’t spot on and neither were their batting order. Punjab had an extremely good day and will play Mumbai Indians in their next match on March 29.