Are Gujarat Titans The New Zealand Of IPL?

Gary Stead and Ashish Nehra, what do they have in common? 

Seems like something extremely random, right? How can two people who have never crossed paths have anything in common? There is one big commonality: both of them coach teams that are extremely underrated.

Think about it: you don’t rate either of the two teams highly, but come the end of the tournament, they are perhaps facing the pre-tournament favourites. 

Especially Gujarat Titans. 

How do you take a coach wearing a bucket hat and drinking tender coconut water seriously? But that’s where Ashish Nehra’s Gujarat Titans have built a dynasty that seemingly is ruling the roost. 

So, how are GT proving everyone wrong now in 2025? 

A top three of Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler

After the auction and ahead of IPL 2025, everyone assumed Jos Buttler would open alongside Shubman Gill. But GT’s decision to pair Sai Sudharsan and Gill in their opener against Punjab Kings confused many.

The decision to pair two anchors left everyone dumbfounded. The two batters have the most runs in IPL 2025 as an opening pair, averaging 46.5, with two of their four partnerships being over 50 runs.

Adding Buttler in that top order has freed up Gill, as evidenced by his powerplay strike rate (160.7). Since joining GT in 2023, this is Gill's best powerplay strike rate in an IPL season.

Why the addition of Buttler at No.3 is a masterstroke

Only once before this season had Buttler batted at No.3. But there’s enough evidence across T20s to show why the Englishman at No.3 was the perfect choice for the franchise - 865 runs @ 34.6 and SR of 150.2.

Since the end of last year’s IPL, Buttler has played at No.3 on 13 occasions, with four fifties, and still has a BPB of 4.7. Buttler is so versatile that they’ve maximised his ability to counter-attack opponents — spin or pace.

Only two overseas players? No problem!

While teams want an additional fifth overseas player, Gujarat are happy with two. Thus far, Gujarat have started three, reduced to two when Kagiso Rabada went home for emergency reasons. 

They might have played Sherfane Rutherford as the impact player. Starting with three overseas gave them a choice between Glenn Phillips or Rutherford. So, even if their batting ends at No.7 on paper, a solid top three gives them a deeper batting advantage.

With Washington Sundar, they might play just three overseas all season.

‘Batters win you matches, bowlers win you tournaments’

“IPL is a kind of a tournament where everybody really focuses on scoring 250-260-270, but it's the bowlers that win you matches,” Gill said prior to the tournament. 

"We are hoping that we will be able to play the same bowling attack for the 14 games, but if anything happens we have good back-up as well. I think we have got Ishi [Ishant Sharma] bhai,” he added.

Between Rabada, Siraj, and Krishna, Gujarat spent 27.11% of its auction purse, signalling intent. Despite Rabada's return to South Africa, GT became stronger.

The biggest reason is the duo of Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.

In Siraj and Krishna, Gujarat thrust opposition batters

If you asked a cricket fan before IPL if they'd take Siraj and Krishna and turn them into a world-beater, they’d laugh.

It's mostly at your expense, too, because Siraj has been highly inconsistent over the last few years, and Krishna hasn’t played a single IPL season in the last two years. So, their combining to run ragged must be a thought so far away. 

But that’s exactly what they have been doing this year. They have toppled batters for fun. 

In all the matches involving both Siraj and Krishna this IPL season, the pacers have picked up 18 wickets, and the two have picked up 14 of those. You know what makes it beyond explainable? Siraj has averaged just 13.77 this season, bowling at an economy of 7.75 despite bowling in Bengaluru and Hyderabad in two out of the four games. 

Siraj had a lot of things going, and the biggest thing was motivation, something that the Titans have used to great effect till then. They have ridden heavily on Siraj’s motivation to return to the Indian side, as the pacer has already picked up six powerplay wickets - the same amount he had picked up in the entirety of IPL 2024. 

While saliva has been a great friend, Nehra’s trust and more freewheeling approach have certainly boosted Siraj's spirits. When you combine those vibes with Krishna's deadly skiddy nature, you have a gold mine. 

Over the last few years, the 29-year-old, in most eyes, had already transitioned into a more red-ball specialist. He wasn’t around in the white-ball scheme of things for a while now, mostly because of his bout with injuries. 

Another area of expertise for Nehra. The Karnataka pacer hasn’t been just good but has been one of the pivotal players in Gujarat’s ascension to the top, picking up five wickets with an ER of 7.33. While Siraj tails the ball on a fuller length, Krishna’s skiddy nature and the ability to get the ball to rise up has definitely worked well in tandem. 

Sai Kishore stands tall even when Rashid Khan fails

Four games, six points. 

When you realise that Gujarat have got these points without any meaningful contribution from Rashid Khan, that’s when you realise bloody hell, what a team. Very rarely does a team do extremely well in the bowling department without their best bowler helping one bit. 

Rashid has picked up just one wicket in the entire season thus far, averaging a STAGGERING 143. If you want to know how bad it is, Rashid’s previous worst bowling campaign was in 2019, when he averaged 94.5 in seven games (Shpageeza Cricket League).

It is almost a guarantee every year that Rashid is going to turn up and pick up from where he left the previous year, if not better. But even when he’s been a mere shadow, Gujarat have stood tall because they decided to show faith in a left-arm spinner - Sai Kishore - who even his homegrown franchise didn’t give enough chances. 

Over the last few years, it has aged fittingly well for them, as the left-arm spinner is amongst the best spinners in IPL 2025 — both economically and in terms of providing big breakthroughs — with eight wickets @ 14.1 and an ER of 7.1. 

Looking at all of this pan out in this fashion, you might be wondering and scratching your head at the same time. Maybe some of you would even be pulling your hair a bit, trying to understand how Gujarat Titans have done it time and again. 

Remember that New Zealand have been doing the same for years. The answer is simple: consistency, simplicity, and trust. In Nehra’s case: tender coconut, bucket hats, and length ball.