"There was a phase where Shubman Gill didn't score runs at all" - Mohammad Kaif on what went wrong for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024

Mohammad Kaif has picked Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Shubman Gill's lean run in the crucial phase of IPL 2024 as one of the franchise's stumbling blocks. He noted that the IPL 2022 champions were let down by their batters this season.

The Titans' clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Ahmedabad on Monday (May 13) was washed out. The last two season's finalists were resultantly knocked out of the playoff race.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Kaif was asked where the Gujarat Titans' IPL 2024 campaign had gone wrong.

"Gujarat's batting. 200 runs are getting chased and 250 runs are being scored. However, if you talk about Gujarat, they have scored 200 very few times. Many batters were out of form. Shubman Gill played well at the start but then there was a phase where Shubman Gill didn't score runs at all, although he scored a century in the last match," he responded.

The former India player opined that GT were late in replacing Wriddhiman Saha with Sai Sudharsan as Gill's opening partner

"They got Sai Sudharsan to open. They should have tried that five matches ago. Sudharsan is a left-handed batter and Gill is a right-handed batter - every team does that (uses such a combination). However, they went with Wriddhiman Saha in a lot of matches. Saha played a few small knocks but couldn't play a big knock," Kaif explained.

"I believe they should have strengthened the opening combination and brought Sudharsan up the order. All matches are being decided in the first six overs these days, whether you talk about (Sunil) Narine and (Phil) Salt, or Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma. They attack so much in the first six overs that they go far ahead in the game. Gujarat couldn't do that," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Sudharsan (527) and Gill (426) are the Gujarat Titans' top two run-getters in IPL 2024. However, the latter aggregated only 67 runs over a five-game stretch before his century against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

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"They didn't know at all what their best XI was this year" - Mohammad Kaif on Gujarat Titans' unsettled combination

Shahrukh Khan has played only seven games for the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Mohammad Kaif noted that apart from Shubman Gill's indifferent run, the Gujarat Titans couldn't figure out their best playing combination.

"Although Shubman Gill played extremely well in the last match, I believe he got late. They didn't know at all what their best XI was this year. I think they changed 22 or 23 players as well. Gujarat generally doesn't make changes. They had difficulties there," he elaborated.

"This time they got Shahrukh Khan in late, played Abhinav Manohar a match, Kane Williamson played one or two matches, and then he was left out. I feel their bowling was still better. They have Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed. Mohit Sharma bowled well. Bowling did decently but the Gujarat batters were left far behind this time," Kaif added.

Kaif pointed out that the Titans also suffered because of Hardik Pandya's move to the Mumbai Indians (MI). He added that the IPL is the world's most difficult tournament and teams can't be expected to win it consistently.