Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya completes 2000 IPL runs

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], April 16 (ANI): Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya on Sunday achieved a significant milestone by scoring 2000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Pandya achieved the feat during a match against Rajasthan Royals at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Pandya achieved this feat as he smashed the crucial runs in the eighth over, smashing a carrom ball from off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin over mid-off/extra cover.
Pandya, who started the game just 16 runs shy of the 2000-run mark, has now joined an elite group of IPL players who have scored 2000+ runs and taken 50+ wickets. The hard-hitting all-rounder has taken 50 wickets in the IPL over a nine-year and 100-match career.
Only Shane Watson, Andre Russell, Ravindra Jadeja, Kieron Pollard, and Jacques Kallis have accomplished this feat in the IPL. Pandya's outstanding performance has cemented his place among the league's most successful all-rounders.
Coming to the match, top knocks from Shubman Gill, David Miller and Abhinav Manohar's quickfire innings propelled Gujarat Titans to 177/7 against Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match here at Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
For GT, Gill scored 45 off 34 and Miller smashed 46 runs while Manohar played a quickfire knock of 27 runs in 17 balls. For RR, Sandeep Sharma bagged two while Trent Boult, Adam Zampa and Yuzvendra Chahal scalped one wicket each.
Opted to bowl first Royals got off to a flying start as Trent Boult dismissed opener Wriddhiman Saha on the third delivery of the opening over.
Opener Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan then handled the charge as they slammed Boult for 13 runs. Sudharsan then fell prey to run out as he tried to take a run in the 5th over of the innings.
Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya then came out to bat. The Gujarat batters rotated the strike brilliantly, not allowing the Rajasthan bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls on offer.
Pandya slammed Adam Zampa for 13 runs with the help of one four and six in the 7th over of the innings. Pandya and Gill both were aggressors of the batting pair, smashing boundaries regularly. The duo stitched a solid 50-run partnership for their team.
Gujarat were banking on Gill and Pandya's partnership to post a dominating target, however, the solid stand between the batters was broken as Yuzvendra Chahal provided his team with a great breakthrough. Chahal dismissed well-set batter Pandya for 28 in the 11th over of the innings. David Miller then came out to bat.
Rajasthan bowlers then started to grasp a strong hold on Gujarat batters as they delivered economical spells restricting Titans from scoring boundaries. Gill's superb knock of 45 runs came to an end as he was sent packing by Sandeep Sharma in the 16th over.
The right-handed batter Abhinav Manohar came out to bat to join hands with Miller and slammed Boult for back-to-back two sixes, taking Gujarat's total beyond 150 runs in the 18th over of the game.
Manohar slammed a six off Zampa's delivery before losing his wicket after scoring 27. In the last over, Miller slammed back-to-back two boundaries before handing a catch to Hetmyer off Sandeep Sharma's delivery. Sandeep delivered a stunning last over to help RR restrict Gujarat to 177/7 in 20 overs.(ANI)