“Technology sometimes helps; sometimes it does not” - Hardik Pandya reacts to Matthew Wade’s controversial dismissal in IPL 2022 match vs RCB

Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Hardik Pandya took a philosophical view of opener Matthew Wade’s controversial dismissal in his team's IPL 2022 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Thursday. He said that while technology helps most of the times but not always.

There was a massive debate after Wade was adjudged lbw to Glenn Maxwell for 16. The Gujarat opener went for a review. While there seemed to be a deflection as the ball passed the bat, UltraEdge didn't show a spike. As a result, the on-field decision stayed. Wade was furious as he walked off and smashed a few things in the dressing room.

Asked for his reaction to the controversy, Pandya said at a post-match press conference:

“I think it was slightly there (spike) in UltraEdge. From the big screen, it was not visible, but you can’t fault it. If technology is not helping, then I don’t know who’s going to help. Obviously, it’s nothing personal from anybody, but technology sometimes helps, sometimes it does not. This time, it did not help but most of the time it has worked and kind of overturned decisions. Most of the times, the right decision has been taken.”

GT batted first after winning the toss but struggled for fluency and only managed 168-5. The performance was similar to the loss against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the DY Patil Stadium, when they were held to 143-8 after batting first.

Pandya, though, downplayed ‘batting first’ worries, pointing out that they have defended quite a few totals in IPL 2022. He said:

“If I am not wrong, we are still the No.1 side who have defended the most number of totals while bowling second. So we must have done reasonably well with the bat. We wanted to practice the difficulties we would face in the playoffs in this match, so we would know where we need to improve and the areas to focus upon.”

Gujarat's total was built around Pandya, who top-scored with 62* off 47. However, Virat Kohli’s 73 off 54 lifted RCB to an eight-wicket victory.

The detailed IPL 2022 schedule are available here.

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“We did what we felt was right” - Hardik Pandya defends holding back Shami, Ferguson

Even though Gujarat did not have a big total to play with, they underutilised the services of key pacers Mohammed Shami and Lockie Ferguson. Asked about the somewhat perplexing tactic, the GT captain explained while responding to a Sportskeeda query:

“Obviously, in hindsight you can say that ‘this guy didn’t bowl, that guy didn’t bowl’. But at that point of time, we did what we felt was right. I think we were always there in the game. Maxwell coming in and scoring a 18-ball 40 took the game away. Otherwise, no matter who bowled or who didn’t bowl, we were always in the game. For me, it was fine.”

Shami bowled two overs for 23 runs in the chase, while Ferguson sent down 1.4 overs, conceding 21 runs.