Doing nothing can indeed turn out to be a frustrating job. All of Gujarat Titans’ middle-order batters would attest to this paradox.
The Titans’ top three—Shubman Gill, B. Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler—have accounted for 1,718 of the 2,335 runs (~74 per cent) the team has scored in IPL 2025.
So, on every matchday, it might get exasperating for the likes of Sherfane Rutherford, M. Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia to don the franchise colours, limber up, and do everything the other eight in the lineup do before eventually warming the bench or getting a couple of hits at best. All of that without having put a foot wrong.
Matthew Wade, player-turned-assistant coach of GT, understands that the middle-order is alarmingly low on game-time, but he isn’t keen on fiddling with a winning combination. Instead, the management has come up with a ‘no nets up’ training method to get the boys acquainted with match situations.
While addressing the media on the eve of the match against Lucknow Super Giants, he said, “It’s ideal that our top three are scoring a majority of the runs. The middle order—Sherfane, Shahrukh, and Tewatia—had a good impact in games when they got the opportunity. They just haven’t had a lot of game time over the last few weeks.
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“So, we’re trying to give that to them as much as we can. It’s obviously very hard to simulate a match. But giving them opportunities to bat on the ‘B’ ground with no nets up to at least feel like there’s a little bit more match (like) intensity at training is something we’ll try and do over the next week or so. It will be to make them feel like they’re a little bit more comfortable and they’ve had a little bit more game time,” he added.
With glovesman Buttler heading back to England after the league stage for being named in the squad for the ODI series against the West Indies, the job does get a bit tougher for the Titans thereafter. But Wade isn’t too worried. He said, “It would be lovely if Jos could stay for the finals, but the reality is there’s gonna be another opportunity for someone to come in and do really well. Whether that’s an international replacement or whether we go with another Indian wicketkeeper, we’ll have to wait and see.”
“That’s a decision that Ash (Ashish Nehra) and we’ll have to make at some stage. The great thing about us is that we’ve got a pretty settled lineup—guys know their roles and what they need to do. So it’ll be a next-man-up type of situation,” Wade added.
Meanwhile, Lucknow Super Giants batter Himmat Singh, whose sole appearance on an IPL 2025 teamsheet had come during the reverse leg of Thursday’s match, decided to keep his cards close to his chest when asked regarding the possible replacements of Digvesh Rathi.
Rathi has been handed a one-match suspension for picking a fight with Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Abhishek Sharma in LSG’s previous fixture.
Himmat said, “Nothing’s clear yet. There are a lot of good players waiting for their chance. Whoever gets it, it’s going to be fruitful for them.”
