The 16th match of the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League is currently underway at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, where the Punjab Kings are battling the Gujarat Titans. GT skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to field first. GT have gotten off to a great start thanks to their skipper Hardik and all-rounder Rahul Tewatia.
Gujarat Titans were compelled to make a couple of changes to their playing XI for this match. The Ahmedabad-based franchise had to leave out the duo of Vijay Shankar and Varun Aaron because of injuries, and two new players, namely Sai Sudarshan and Darshan Nalkande replaced them in the playing XI.
Speaking at the toss about the team’s changes and the team’s performance in IPL 2022 so far, Hardik Pandya said:
“I’ll be modest. It’s been alright. We have had some good games. The boys have shown good courage throughout. We’ve got two forced changes today – Vijay Shankar is out with back spasms and Varun Aaron is injured, so we have Sai Sudharsan and Darshan Nalkande coming in.”
Rahul Tewatia took a great catch to dismiss Jonny Bairstow in the match
Lockie Ferguson beat Jonny Bairstow with his pace. The Punjab Kings batter was stunned for a while as he tried to leave the ball but instead ended up placing it towards the third-man region. Rahul Tewatia, who was standing inside the 30-yard circle, dived forward to complete an excellent catch.
Some fans on Twitter praised Tewatia for his excellent catch, while a few of them were unhappy because Punjab Kings dropped the in-form Bhanuka Rajapaksa to include Jonny in the playing XI. Here are the Twitter reactions to both:
Tewatia is not just good with bat and ball, he's an outstanding fielder too. A proper 3D player 😌
— Anirudh (@OffDrive_) April 8, 2022
What a catch by Tewatia! Great fielding today by #GT. 2 down 😎
— CS (@chin80) April 8, 2022
Brilliant catch by Tewatia to dismiss Bairstow.#IPL2022 #PBKSvGT pic.twitter.com/k9efwmzAi8
— Ashmin Aryal (@AryalAshmin) April 8, 2022
Very tough to differentiate between Shami and Tewatia when they are wearing caps #IPL2022 #IPL
— Abhinandan Nahata (@khelgyani_abhi) April 8, 2022
Jonny Bairstow's #PBKS debut ends pretty quickly ..
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) April 8, 2022
Bairstow c Rahul Tewatia b Ferguson 8(8)
Punjab: 34/2 (4.5 overs) .. https://t.co/xVo8fzOhKB #IPL2022 #PBKSvGT
missing Rajapaksa.#PBKSvGT
— Zorawar Singh (@RebornVeer) April 8, 2022
Horrendous decision by PBKS to drop Bhanuka Rajapaksa. Should have utilised his red hot form, this will cost them#PBKSvGT
— Naanu𓃵 (@Tw33tShoot3r) April 8, 2022
Punjab Kings ( powerplay ) in this IPL 2022 – With 🇱🇰 @BhanukaRajapak3
— DANUSHKA ARAVINDA (@DanuskaAravinda) April 8, 2022
63/0
62/3
72/2
With out 🇱🇰 Bhanuka Rajapaksa
43/2#sportspavilionlk #PBKSvGT #IPL2022 @PunjabKingsIPL pic.twitter.com/MFuIz52MFS
