Hardik Pandya reveals the reason for not giving R Sai Kishore a chance in earlier games of the Indian T20 League 2022

Gujarat's 62-run win over Lucknow enabled them to become the first team to qualify for the Indian T20 League 2022 Playoffs. This comprehensive victory comes as a huge positive for the Hardik Pandya-led side. Besides, they are now placed at the top of the table, and look all set to book their spot in the Qualifier 1.

As for Gujarat's clinical victory over the KL Rahul-led side, their bowlers were absolutely fantastic. However, it was R Sai Kishore who grabbed everyone's attention. In just his debut Indian T20 League game, he looked really impressive as he took two wickets in just two overs. Besides, several experts have been calling for him to feature in the cash-rich league since the last few editions.

Although the Tamil Nadu spinner has been superb in the domestic circuit, he wasn't given an opportunity to feature in the Indian T20 league until Gujarat's recent game against the Lucknow-based franchise. Thus, their skipper Hardik Pandya drew light on the same. He stated that the offie couldn't be given a game earlier in the tournament due to their strong pace attack.

"I rate Sai Kishore quite high as a left-arm spinner. Because of the kind of fast bowlers we had, it wasn't possible to play him and Jayant Yadav," said Hardik Pandya during the post-match presentation. Prior to this season, R Sai Kishore was with Chennai. However, he failed to get a game for the yellow army.

Nevertheless, he is expected to feature in the XI for the Gujarat-based franchise in their upcoming games. In the meanwhile, Pandya was impressed with his bowlers as they bundled Lucknow for just 82. He also spoke about how they always stand together as a team.

"Lucknow were a bit short in their lengths, and fuller lengths were working. Our bowlers did everything that we asked of them, and we ticked all boxes today. I always feel that if you lose a game like the one we lost in our last game, we win and lose games as a team. Yes, we did not do what we wanted to do. We messed it up, but we messed it up as a team. Everyone stood by each other, and we had a get-together post game and made sure the vibe was always there," he added.