IPL 2026: Partners in rhyme! Jason Holder hails GT pacers

GT pacers Kagiso Rabada (left) and Mohammed Siraj celebrate the wicket of PBKS’s Suryansh Shedge in Ahmedabad on Sunday; (right) An ecstatic Jason Holder after dismissing PBKS’s Nehal Wadhera. Pics/IPL

Suryansh Shedge displayed some of the famous Mumbai khadoos attitude as he fought hard for table toppers Punjab Kings with a 29-ball 57 (3x4s, 5x6s), but couldn't prevent a four-wicket defeat to Gujarat Titans, who successfully implemented their template once again of restricting the opposition to a score below 200 on a bowling-friendly pitch at home and then chasing it down.

Pacers Jason Holder (4-24), Kagiso Rabada (2-22), and Mohammed Siraj (2-28) set up the win for the hosts by restricting a power-packed Punjab to 163-9. GT won with four wickets and one ball to spare.

"That's pretty much been our template for this season and in earlier seasons as well. We have got some solid players and the beautiful hope we've been playing with is that it's not one individual doing it every single day. Different players are stepping up on different days," Player of the Match Holder said at the post-match press conference.

Holder is the all-rounder that GT had missed since Hardik Pandya parted ways with them just before the 2024 season. The West Indian has now won back-to-back Player of the Match awards in their last two home matches. "I enjoy bowling here. It is a wicket where it has a little bit for the seamers. It's not been one of those wickets where you see 220, 240, 260, and I think that's fair cricket. Some of the other grounds are very, very difficult for bowlers as it's just a run fest," he said, going on to praise his pace partners.

"Credit to both KG and Siraj. They've been outstanding this entire competition. They've led the Powerplay and made it difficult for the opposition. That speaks volumes for their class. Very rarely have I seen two bowlers, bowling three overs back-to-back in a Powerplay. It says a lot about their calibre and quality. When they start, they set the tone in terms of what length works on a particular wicket. And then, it's just a matter for all the other bowlers to follow.

Punjab's Shedge, meanwhile, blamed himself for getting out off the last ball of Rabada's spell. "I could have let that one go, in hindsight when I look at it. We would have probably scored 20-25 runs more," he said.

16
No. of wickets claimed by Kagiso Rabada in the ongoing IPL - his best since the 2022 edition

Nine
No. of consecutive matches in which GT pacer Mohammed Siraj has claimed at least one wicket

29
No. of wickets claimed by GT pacers with short balls - the most by any team in the ongoing IPL

4-24
Jason Holder's bowling figures on Sunday - his best in the IPL

11
No. of wickets claimed by Kagiso Rabada in the Powerplay in the ongoing edition - the most by any bowler

Three
No. of wickets claimed by Mohammed Siraj in GT's first over

35-3
No. of runs scored by PBKS in the Powerplay vs GT on Sunday - their lowest-ever in the ongoing IPL