Asked to bat first, GT got off to a flying start with Shubman Gill and Saha webbing a 142 runs partnership for the opening wicket. While Gill scored brilliant 94 runs off 51 balls, Saha hammered 81 off 43 deliveries. The sensational knock from the duo eventually powered Gujarat to a mammoth 227-run total for the loss of just two wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Meanwhile, the only bowlers to pick up a wicket for LSG were Mohsin Khan and Avesh Khan.
Following the first innings, GT decided to substitute 38-year-old Saha with KS Bharat to give the former rest after his heroic knock. However, as soon as Bharat was walking onto the ground to perform the wicketkeeping duties in Saha’s place, the on-field umpire quickly intervened and stopped him.
The match official told the GT captain Hardik Pandya and coach Ashish Nehra that they can only field a substitute wicketkeeper if Saha is injured or Bharat comes in as an impact player. Amidst all this confusion, Saha mistakenly wore his pants in the wrong way before rushing onto the ground. The pictures and videos of the Bengal cricketer wearing trousers the other way around soon went viral on the internet.
Here’s the video:
Notably, GT later bought in Alzarri Joseph as an impact player replacing Gill. On the other hand, Saha was also taken off the field and replaced with Bharat as he struggled to keep the wickets after several overs
Coming back to the match, LSG failed to chase the target set by Gujarat and ended up losing the game by huge 56 runs. Although Quinton de Kock played a fighting 70-run knock for his team, he couldn’t get his team across the line. Mohit Sharma shined with the ball for GT and scalped four wickets in the contest.
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