The Gujarat Titans' (GT) fairytale run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 ended on a nighmarish note as they slumped to a 20-run defeat against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Eliminator clash in Mullanpur on Friday, May 30. The Shubman Gill-led side fell short despite a valiant effort in the run chase as their campaign went haywire during the business stages.
GT led in the points table for the majority of the season, losing only three matches out of their first 12. However, consecutive losses to close out the league stage, coupled with unavailability issues, meant that they lost all of their momentum. The unexpected losses to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) meant that they slipped out of the top two, and were pitted against MI in the Eliminator.
Despite having both of the current Orange Cap and Purple Cap leaders, GT's season ends in the early stages of the playoffs, with the finals being in sight.
On that note, let us take a look at three major reasons behind GT failing to win IPL 2025.
#1 Overdependency on the top three
GT certainly cracked the code with a reliable top three of Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler, but it came at a price. With all three top-order batters in a rich vein of form, they naturally played out the majority of the overs. Their batting profiles are such that they cannot be separated in the batting order, which led to the middle order being relatively weakened.
On paper, GT does not boast a dominant middle order, they have an unorthodox No.4 in Washington Sundar, while Sherfane Rutherford and Shahrukh Khan have been on-and-off throughout their IPL careers. Furthermore, Glenn Phillips' season-ending injury was a major blow. To make matters worse, he was replaced by an all-rounder in the form of Dasun Shanaka, who did not play a single game.
Things were breezy for the team for the majority of the campaign as the top three continued to be among the runs and were the foundation for the wins. However, it was inevitable that the top three, irrespective of their form and prowess, had to falter, especially in tricky conditions and
It is harsh to pin the blame on the middle-order players, considering they did a decent job. It is never easy to match the tempo of the innings towards the end. GT should have been prepared for such a scenario, considering that this was a disaster in the making. Other franchises bulked up their middle order to back their firepower at the start, but they were behind in that particular trend.
#2 Lack of support for the frontline bowlers
On paper, Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan were GT's 'frontline' bowlers, given their accomplishments and experience. But, judging by the contributions of the bowling unit, it was clear that the bowling spearheads were Prasidh Krishna and Sai Kishore.
The pair played their parts to perfection, even over-achieving to a degree, to land a combined 44 wickets in just over 100 overs. But, with Mohammed Siraj losing his mojo towards the business end, Rashid Khan being so far off his best self, and the likes of Gerald Coetzee and Arshad Khan highly inconsistent and expensive, GT suffered.
As far as numbers go, Siraj picked up only one wicket in his last four matches, conceding at an economy of over nine in each of them. The team sorely missed his lack of influence with the new ball when it mattered. Rashid Khan finishes with fewer than 10 wickets in an IPL season for the very first time. Coetzee and Arshad Khan had economy rates of 10.92 and 10.33, respectively.
On several occasions, the team failed to keep the pressure going from both ends, and the opponents could make up for the lost momentum quite easily. The top order's brilliance covered for the bowling unit's repeated mishaps, but towards the end, it was all out in the open.
#3 GT were often out-batted by opposition on flat tracks
There is a common theme behind all of GT's defeats in IPL 2025. All of them have been high-scoring contests, where they have either scored below par or they have fell short while chasing.
In their season opener at home against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), they conceded 243, and fell short by 11 runs. Their next defeat, to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), they put up a below-par score and were outdone by Nicholas Pooran while defending the score.
The theme continues as RR chased down 210 with four overs to spare courtesy of Vaibhav Suryavanshi's freak show. In their recent consecutive losses at home also, they were also guilty of conceding over 200 runs, and failing to chase it down.
The Eliminator clash was just an extension of that, as MI outbatted GT by capitalising on their bowling woes. Shubman Gill and co. did not have the goods to chase such a mammoth total despite the aid of dew without Jos Buttler, alongwith Jasprit Bumrah's four overs.
They did not have that kind of lineup that could go hard from start to finish, given the massive disparity between the top and the middle order. To make matters worse, even if the middle order did their job in certain games to help the side put up a par score on a flat surface, the bowlers did not back them up.
An enforcer in the middle order, someone who is accomplished, is a hole that the franchise needs to fill during the next mini-auction. Although Sherfane Rutherford, Washington Sundar, and Shahrukh Khan have been decent, considering their lack of actual game time in the middle, they still need someone much more bonafide and reliable.
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