Gujarat Titans have failed to follow last year's approach.
Gujarat Titans (GT) have a middle-order problem, but Matthew Hayden feels the top-order has been putting more pressure in IPL 2026. Following a heavy defeat against the Mumbai Indians (MI) last night, GT’s batting coach defended the middle order, citing their role to make an impact rather than playing long innings.
“We’re putting a lot of pressure on our middle order. When you look at the way that you go about the middle order, go about preparation, it’s vastly different to way the top three handle those preparations. They are batting for impact. We shouldn’t be allowing, you know, Tiwu [Tewatia] or Shahrukh Khan or these guys lots of balls. That’s not their role. That’s not what they train for.”
GT’s template has been set for a while now: they ask their top three to bat as deep as possible and delay the entry points of middle and lower-middle-order batters to cover for a vulnerable unit. That move worked brilliantly till the last season, as the likes of Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia hardly had to weave long innings at any stage and never really learned innings-building skills.
For instance, Shahrukh faced around 9.72 balls per innings and came in the 13th over or later in 66.66% of total outings between 2024 and 2025. Meanwhile, Tewatia faced only 8.95 balls per innings, and his entry point was 15th over or later in 80.95% of total innings in this period.
In IPL 2025, Gujarat Titans’ top-three – Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler – collectively faced around 71.15% of total balls, scoring at an average of 54.08 and striking at 157.90. At least one of the three batters stayed at the crease till the 15th over or beyond for 13 of 15 innings, and on six instances, one or more remained unbeaten till the end.
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In the initial 10 overs of the innings, their balls-per-dismissal ratio was a whopping 47.36, and they averaged around 70.95. That has changed drastically in IPL 2026, where the Gujarat Titans’ three main batters have collectively scored at an average of 35.64, with the strike rate falling to 151.50 and balls faced to just 59.34%.
Additionally, the Titans have averaged just 40.38 and lost a wicket every 27.69 deliveries in the first 10 overs. These numbers are by no means poor; it’s just that the team composition doesn’t allow the top three to settle for average returns or get dismissed early too often.
GT have won three games, and in each of those victories, at least one of Gill, Sai, or Buttler has stayed at the crease beyond the 15-over mark. In contrast, in two of their three losses, whoever played among them failed to bat beyond that stage.
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