Gujarat Titans coach Ashish Nehra is not fazed about the criticism surrounding his team’s middle order performing poorly in the 2025 season.
Gujarat Titans made it to the Eliminator in 2025, with the star-studded top-three of captain Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and England's Jos Buttler, who scored 1947 runs in 15 matches. The trio was among the top-10 highest run-scorers last season, with Sudharsan claiming the Orange Cap.
Nehra believes that the contributions of the top-three were the main reason the Titans had such a strong season, and with them facing most of the overs, it leaves very few balls for the middle order to face.
“First things first, as a coach, I don’t feel the middle order was collapsing. Yes, the top three scored heavily and often batted through 17-18 overs, which is one of the main reasons the team was in such a strong position after 13-14 games,” Nehra said in a press conference. “It was a disappointing end to the tournament, no doubt, but when your top three are scoring that many runs, the middle order naturally faces very few deliveries, and that’s not an easy role. There may have been one or two occasions in 14 games when Nos. 5 or 6 could have finished the match and didn’t, but that’s part of the game. Whether it was Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan or Sherfane Rutherford, they did their job, and that’s why we were where we were,” he added.
Nehra further stated that for a new batter, coming in to bat in the 18th over against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer is a difficult prospect in itself.
“It’s always easy to talk about finishers, but it’s not simple when someone walks in at the 18th over needing 35 off two, especially if Jasprit Bumrah or Jofra Archer is bowling,” Nehra said.
The Titans won nine of their first 123 matches in 2025, before losses in the final two meant they finished third in the points table in 2025, putting them in the Eliminator against the Mumbai Indians, who they failed to beat. They start their 2026 campaign against the Punjab Kings at the New PCA Stadium in Mullanpur on March 31.