Impact players reason behind high-scoring matches: Shubman Gill

Gujarat Titans (GT) almost pulled off the highest-ever chase in Indian Premier League (IPL) history but fell just four runs short against Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 24 (Wednesday). Rishabh Pant top-scored with an unbeaten 43-ball 88 to propel DC to 224. However, fifties from Sai Sudharsan (65) and David Miller (55) kept GT in the hunt, but despite Rashid Khan's (21*) best efforts, they fell short.

Many players in the tournament have expressed their opinion against the impact player rule, and GT skipper Shubman Gill too joined the bandwagon.

"I think impact player has a bit of a role [in making the matches high-scoring], even if you lose extra wickets, extra cushion is there for the batters to keep going and it gives the license for the batters to keep going till the end," Gill said at the post-match presentation.

Gill also expressed disappointment over not being able to restrict DC to 200-210. "At one stage, we thought we would be able to restrict them to 200-210, but we gave away some extra runs in the last 2-3 overs," Gill said. 

"But this is a smallish ground, we spoke about the same when we went out to chase. Execution becomes very important, if there's a set batter or a finisher, you'll have to execute well. It's okay if there's something in the wicket, but on pitches like this, you'll have to make sure that you execute all your plans perfectly, be it the yorkers or the variations."

Pant not only smashed it around with the bat, but he took a couple of excellent catches and also led the side well. Anrich Nortje was not having a good day and as a result, Pant handed the crucial final over to Rasikh Salam, and it paid off.

"Nortje was having a tough time. T20 is a funny game, after 14-15 overs the ball was coming on nicely. So we wanted to trust Rasikh, always trust someone who is bowling well in a game. I think it is about instincts as a captain, it will come off sometimes. Happy it worked today," he said.

Both DC and GT have eight points from nine IPL games so far, but the former are ahead on net run-rate. Delhi take on Mumbai Indians (MI) next on April 27 (Saturday), while Gujarat face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 28 (Sunday) in Ahmedabad.