I will always be a bowler's captain: GT skipper Hardik Pandya

AHMEDABAD: After winning the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad by 34-run with the combined effort of the batting and bowling unit at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Monday, Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya disclosed that he prefers being a bowler's captain.

In the post-match presentation, Hardik said, "Very proud of the boys, two in two (making it to the playoffs twice in a row). The boys put their hands up and in challenging situations and we rightly deserve the playoff spot. There will be expectations and for me it was important to focus within the group.

We ticked a lot of good boxes, we made a lot of errors but we were always there in the game and tried to stay consistent. Bowlers are very close to my heart.

Sometimes batters take a lot of credit, for me I will always be a bowler's captain and ensure they get due credit they very much deserve." With this win, Gujarat Titans became the first time to qualify for the playoffs.

They have 18 points in the table with nine wins and four losses. While SRH is placed second last in the Table with eight points. They won four matches and lost eight. Batting first, GT posted 188/9 with the help of Shubman Gill's brilliant IPL century. Young batter Sai Sudharsan also played a knock of 47.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar performed exceptionally well, picking up five wickets by conceding 30 runs. Fazalhaq Farooqi, T Natarajan and Marco Jansen took one wicket each.

Chasing a total of 189, GT's opening bowling pair breathed fire in the opening pair as the duo of dismissed Anmolpreet Singh and Abhishek Sharma respectively. SRH got off to a poor start as they were 45/4 after the end of the powerplay.

Heinrich Klaasen's fighting knock of 64 off 44 balls did not cross the total as from the other end wickets were falling at regular intervals.

The SRH batting were restricted to 154/9, failing to chase down the total.

Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma together picked eight wickets where they dismissed four batters each.

Yash Dayal had also taken one scalp. Shubman Gill was awarded with "Player of the Match" for his blistering knock of 101 off 58 balls.