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IPL 2022 | Hardik Pandya becomes the first captain to opt for batting this season

Indian seam-bowling all-rounder and Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya bucked the trend on Saturday afternoon as he became the first skipper to win the toss and bat first this season.


This is the first time in 35 games this season that a captain has decided to bat first. In the previous 34 games, teams batting first have won on 15 occasions.


Teams' opting to chase has been a recurring trend in the game's shortest format, especially in the subcontinent.


One of the primary reasons for it is the dew factor, but apart from that, teams have historically struggled to ascertain a par score while batting first. This was a day game, and that would have likely influenced Hardik's decision.


The Baroda all-rounder led from the front with the bat as he smashed his 3rd fifty-plus score of the season.


Pandya came to bat in just the 2nd over of the innings after opener Shubman Gill fell cheaply to Tim Southee via a leg-side strangle.


Promoting himself to the No.3 spot, the right-hander played some exquisite strokes during his 49-ball 67 and added 75 runs in the next 9.2 overs with Wriddhiman Saha (25 off 25 deliveries).


He then added another 50 runs in the next five overs with David Miller before an epic collapse saw the Titans lose 8 wickets for a mere 23 runs.


Andre Russell picked 4 out of those 8 wickets in the last over of the innings as GT batters kept holing out to his cutters in the deep.


However, Gujarat's pace battery led by Mohammed Shami has put Hardik's team in a very strong position. The four-men pace battery scalped six wickets between them, as the Titans snatched victory from KKR's jaw, or rather Russell, who was removed by Ferguson with 12 runs remaining. 


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