Shubman Gill (85), B Sai Sudharsan (53*). Jos Buttler (57) all hit half-centuries at Eden Gardens on Saturday and at least one of them was in the middle for every over of the Gujarat Titans (GT) chase, but they still fell short 29 runs. They finished on 219 for 4 in a chase of 248 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). leaving them without a Q next to their name on the IPL 2026 points table.
On its own, it was a strong batting performance, but not good enough on the day. And Ambati Rayudu. on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show, suggested that a score of around 220 is about the best they are capable of, which, as we have discovered in IPL 2026, is often not enough.
'They batted well, given the conditions and the kind of bowling they faced. Especially Shubman Gill - some exceptional hitting," Rayudu said. "Buttler struggled a little bit, only because of the nature of the surface and the bowling. Buttler was anticipating balls he was not getting. He was premeditating a lot. Buttler at his best actually just sees and reacts.
"Other than that, they have given their all. This is the upper ceiling of GT's batting."
Sanjay Bangar agreed that Buttler was "not at his very best". went back to GT not finding batters beyond the top three who instil confidence from the outside. Nishant Sindhu. Rahul Tewatia, the two batters used by GT on Saturday outside of the three half-centurions, scored four runs in eight balls between them.
"If GT accept that or not, that is their prerogative,. from an outside view, it does seem to be an issue," Bangar said. "If you have to score targets further than 225, it will come back and hurt them."
Parthiv Patel, GT's batting coach, addressed the press conference at Eden Gardens after the game,. did not find their inability to chase down the stiff target too worrying. Parthiv said Sai Sudharsan's elbow injury, which forced him to retire hurt in the third over. return only in the 17th over, came at the wrong time since he was batting fluently on a 13-ball 23 before the injury. He also defended sending Sai Sudharsan out with three-and-a-bit overs of the chase left instead of a designated finisher.
"If you see the last six matches, we won five games, and we chased and won two-three games. So I don't think [it is worrying]," Parthiv said. "Washington Sundar has made a fifty at the start, now also the way he's been batting, he hasn't got out,. has finished games. So I don't think it is a matter of concern or we are struggling in that department. Even today, chasing nearly 250, we scored 220. So I don't think that's the thing.
"Sai Sudharsan has the ability… I know it doesn't look like he hits the ball [hard],. he hits the ball really hard. Even from a strike-rate perspective, there is no problem. He has both the games. Even when he came to bat after the 17th over. he could still hit the ball, he could still hit the sixes, he could still find the boundaries."
Bangar, though, felt GT still lacked a six-hitter. proposed the name of Anuj Rawat, who played 22 times for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) between IPL 2022 and 2025 but has been on the bench at GT.
"I do feel there is a player. And we consistently find him in the impact list. And that is Anuj Rawat. He is someone who can hit against both pace and spin," Bangar said. "He has some good experience with RCB and he has won a couple of matches playing in that fashion. So if GT want to try. win this championship, they have to get away from the thought process that 'all is well'. They are rightly justified in thinking that with 16 points on the table, but it shouldn't come and hurt them."
For now. though, GT intend to keep things simple, with their last league-stage game coming up on Thursday against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Parthiv said as long as they kept the unforced errors - like the four catches shelled on Saturday - away. they were happy with their position.
"It's a simple scenario for us," Parthiv said. "We don't have to worry about other results either. It is in our hands. If we win the game, we qualify, as simple as that. I don't think we have to think about other results. For us it is simple math.
"We try to keep it as simple as possible. We know our strengths and our weaknesses. We want to build on our strengths and want to ensure we make fewer unforced errors. But the game is such that sometimes you make mistakes, but our plan is to not complicate things. keep them simple."
Discussion
Sign in to join the thread, react, and share images.