"He is tactically one of the best coaches in the IPL" - Gary Kirsten on GT head coach Ashish Nehra following IPL 2022 triumph

Gujarat Titans (GT) batting coach and mentor Gary Kirsten has doled out high praise for franchise head coach Ashish Nehra after a stellar campaign. The Titans scripted history by winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 with a win over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on May 29 (Sunday).

During his time as a player, Nehra was part of the 2011 ICC World Cup-winning Indian team coached by Gary Kirsten. The duo also have a bit of history when it comes to assessing proceedings from the sidelines. They were both part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) coaching staff in the 2018 season.

However, in the recently culminated season, their roles were reversed. Ashish Nehra marked his maiden assignment as head coach while the former Proteas cricketer assisted him.

Rating the former Indian bowler as one of the most tactically sound coaches in the league, Gary Kirsten said on Cricbuzz:

"Ashish is a close friend and we have walked a long journey together. As a player I enjoyed his willingness to keep understanding his game and his professionalism. He coaches with his heart, always thinking about his players and how he can help them."

The South African went on to add:

"He's low profile and does not like the spotlight. He is tactically one of the best coaches in the IPL and is always talking to his players about how to make better performances."

Ashish Nehra forged an impeccable relationship with the likes of Kirsten and Hardik Pandya to lead the franchise to a title in their very first season.

Kirsten's experience while coaching several national sides and franchises was invaluable to the rather inexperienced coaching staff at GT. The former opening batter has primarily spent the bulk of his career post retirement as a head coach, making the recent assignment in a different role a bit trickier.

Admitting that he enjoyed functioning on the coaching staff in a different role than that of a head coach, Gary Kirsten said:

"It was a great learning experience for me not being the head coach. First of all, I really enjoyed it. Secondly, I have a belief that in the IPL you need very strong Indian leadership - it is an Indian tournament in which 85% of the players' first language is Hindi. When you're in a 10-week campaign, Indian leadership understands how the whole massive machine runs."

The Pandya-led side were rampant in their pursuit of the IPL title. Losing just four matches over the course of the tournament, GT emerged as comfortable winners in the end.

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"We realised that we were the team who were going to hit the least sixes" - Gary Kirsten

Despite the presence of pinch hitters like Hardik Pandya, David Miller, and Rahul Tewatia, GT ended the tournament with 79 sixes, the least among all franchises. However, they were second in terms of the number of fours scored, with 250 to their name.

Claiming that GT had a game plan based on reducing the number of dot balls and making an impact with the ball in the powerplay, Gary Kirsten said:

"We realised that we were the team who were going to hit the least sixes, but we hit the most fours. We knew we faced the least dot balls in the entire competition. From a bowling perspective, we knew we wanted to be the team who were best in the PowerPlay and best at the death, and that's exactly what happened."

The IPL 2022 winners made the most of having a robust bowling attack at their disposal. Mohammad Shami played a key role in the initial overs with the new ball and ended the tournament as the highest wicket-taker in the powerplay.