IPL 2017, RPS vs GL: 5 things that went wrong for Gujarat Lions

#2 Playing Dwayne Smith instead of Irfan Pathan

This was not the type of surface for Dwayne Smith’s medium pace to work

A quick glance at Gujarat’s team sheet suggests a weakness in the bowling department. Possessing the knack of procuring wickets at different stages of the game, Andrew Tye had been doing all the heavy lifting in the previous few matches. However, his unfortunate injury went on to expose a malaise in the attack. It became quite apparent when they had to rely on Dwayne Smith’s dibbly dobbly stuff to get through the overs.

Considering the fact that all-rounder Irfan Pathan had kept his nerve under immense pressure in the final over of the previous game, the decision to leave him out was bizarre. There is no rule that a team must field their full quota of four overseas players. Hence, Gujarat could have replaced the misfiring Smith and bolstered their bowling attack by including Irfan.