Gujarat Titans (GT) have appointed former Australia batter Matthew Hayden as their batting coach for the IPL 2026 season.
With IPL 2026 set to start in less than three weeks, GT on March 10 named Matthew Hayden as their batting coach. Team Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki said the decision comes at an important time as the franchise continues to build a strong setup and work towards long term success.
“Matthew’s appointment comes at a pivotal phase in our journey. As a franchise committed to excellence and long-term success, we are constantly focused on strengthening our cricketing ecosystem,” Vikram Solanki said.
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In IPL 2025, it was mostly the GT top order that did the job with the bat, as captain Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler all scored more than 500 runs. With Hayden joining the coaching staff, the team will hope that both domestic batters and overseas players like Buttler, who has recently gone through a rough patch, will benefit from his experience.
Hayden also had a memorable time in the IPL during his playing days with Chennai Super Kings between 2008 and 2010. In 32 matches, he scored 1107 runs at an average of 36.90 and a strike rate of 137.52. His best season came in 2009 when he won the Orange Cap after scoring 572 runs.
The former Australia batter believes the team should aim for a high standard with the bat and play in a way that puts pressure on the opposition and controls the game.
“Good batting applies pressure. Great batting owns the game. That’s the standard we want to set at Gujarat Titans,” Hayden said.
The support staff of GT for IPL 2026 includes Ashish Nehra as head coach and Vikram Solanki as director of cricket. The franchise has also appointed Matthew Hayden as batting coach.
The rest of the support staff features Parthiv Patel, Aashish Kapoor, Narender Negi, Naeem Amin and Matthew Wade as assistant coaches.
In the previous season, GT finished third in the table with nine wins and five losses in 14 league matches. They qualified for the playoffs but were knocked out after losing to Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator.
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