Ashish Nehra, the coach of the Gujarat Titans, is unfazed by the criticism directed at his team’s poor middle order performance during the 2025 season.
With the star-studded top three of England’s Jos Buttler, who hit 1947 runs in 15 games, Sai Sudharsan, and captain Shubman Gill, the Gujarat Titans advanced to the Eliminator in 2025. Last season, Sudharsan won the Orange Cap, and the three were among the top ten run scorers.
The Titans’ stellar season, in Nehra’s opinion, was primarily due to the efforts of the top three, and since they faced the majority of the overs, the middle order had very few balls to deal with.
“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 added that batting against players like Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer in the 18th over is a challenging scenario for a rookie.
“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 placed third in the 2025 points standings after winning nine of their first 123 games. They then faced the Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator, whom they were unable to defeat. play March 31, they take play the Punjab Kings at the New PCA Stadium in Mullanpur to begin their 2026 campaign.
