Gujarat Titans have been branded as a predictable outfit by rival teams and experts but assistant coach Parthiv Patel defended their approach by highlighting the team’s remarkable consistency since its inception in 2022.
GT won the IPL in their debut season in 2022 and have not made the play-offs only once in the franchise’s history.
Their top order including Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler have been highly effective with their traditional approach when openers of other teams are going at a much higher strike rate.
GT would be playing Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 here on Friday and in the opposition is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who is in a league of his own at 15 years of age. He is the leading run getter in the tournament with 680 runs and batting at a strike rate of 242.85.
LSG director of cricket Tom Moody said GT fast bowlers, Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada, come into the game a lot more when there is assistance from the surface.
On the eve of the game, Parthiv said there is no reason for them change as they finished the league in top two. The loss to RCB in Qualifier is something they would not like to dwell too much on.
“We were sitting pretty at number 2 in the points table. I know other teams can think whatever they want to think. There are 6 teams who have not qualified also and I know that the references which you have come from, that I know Tom Moody has said about GT. But see, we have finished number 2. And we know what kind of cricket we want to play. And we back ourselves to give results.”
“Since GT’s inception, four out of five years, we have qualified. Results are there for everyone to see. Everybody has their different way of playing. We have our own style of playing. Even in the first half of the tournament, we were not doing that great. We were just doing okay.
“But we still stuck to our process. We trust in our ability. We know what we can do.And that is something which we will try to do tomorrow as well,” said Parthiv.
Royals have the x-factor of Sooryavanshi and Jofra Archer while GT rely on consistency. What would Parthiv prefer?
“So as long as we are getting results, we don’t have to think about whether we need an X-factor or consistency. It’s about getting pieces together and getting the result,” said the former India wicketkeeper.
Have plans for Sooryavanshi that we will only disclose on field
Titans will have to get rid of Sooryavanshi early else he could run away with the game. Having seen his sensational hitting on Wednesday night, Titans are wary but prepared at the same time. The team had used the short ball sparingly against Sooryavanshi in their last league game with Siraj getting him out.
Parthiv said they will reveal their cards only on the field.
“I am not a broadcaster at the moment, so won’t be able to reveal our plans . I am very excited about the way he is batting. Hopefully, we will be able to get him out him early in the game and we will be able to execute our plans.
“But what it is, you will only know when we are on the ground.
“The way we he is batting people are liking it. I said the same thing last time as well. We should not be talking about his age.
“I think that’s something we need to put an end to it. He’s been a phenomenal talent just the way he’s been playing. And it’s great to see him and just from the opposition’s point of view, we hope that he doesn’t get too many runs,” Parthiv added.