The Gujarat Titans (GT) simply couldn't stand up to the challenge as they took on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final. The Shubman Gill-led side had to play three matches-two of them knockouts-in just six days. While they won the first two, the final saw some of their top performers failing to turn up. As the final started in Ahmedabad, Indian cricket icon Sunil Gavaskar said that the match should have been postponed, as Gujarat simply did not get enough rest due to adverse weather conditions that disrupted their travel plans.
The Shubman Gill-led side entered Sunday's IPL final with less than 24 hours of preparation after reaching Ahmedabad late on Saturday evening. When GT Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki was asked about the impact the tight schedule and travel had on his team, possibly leading to fatigue, he refused to use it as an excuse for the defeat in the final.
"Unfortunately, sir, I can't control the weather. If the weather means we have to land late, then there's nothing we can do about it," Solanki said during the post-match press conference.
When pressed further on the topic and asked if playing three games in the last six days took a toll on the team's physical fitness, Solanki admitted that it was challenging. Yet, he maintained that RCB deserved to win on the day because of the quality of cricket they played.
"It's the number of games in a short number of days is challenging, of course it is, at the end of a campaign. But I'm not going to lean on that at all. We had an opportunity to challenge RCB, in parts we did, but they were the better side today. And I think that's as simple as it is. We could look at matters of statistics as far as what lengths were bowled and what was done as far as the top order was concerned, did we travel late, did we do-that's all irrelevant now, to be totally honest with you.
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"The fact is that RCB have beaten us today and we must be strong enough and hold our heads up high in being proud of the campaign that we've put together. Yet, also be gracious enough to congratulate RCB. So, it would almost be-I don't want to take away from the fact that RCB have won by simply stating that we've had this number of games in this short days and we're fatigued, and that's not really what we're about," he concluded.
from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/rbc5f6D