Following Gujarat Titans‘ narrow 20-run defeat to Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 Eliminator, former Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody pointed out a glaring issue in GT’s lineup — the absence of a reliable Indian middle-order batter. Despite a strong campaign led by the top three — Shubman Gill, B Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler — GT’s middle order faltered when it mattered most.
Tom Moody Highlights Gujarat Titans’ Middle-Order Weakness
During the chase of 229 in New Chandigarh, GT lost momentum after Sudharsan and Washington Sundar’s dismissals. Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, and M Shahrukh Khan struggled to keep up with the required run rate against MI’s disciplined bowling attack.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 26 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒙. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑴𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒚. “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 — 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒘𝒐𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎.”
GT Missing a Player Like David Miller, Says Varun Aaron
Adding to the analysis, former GT pacer Varun Aaron highlighted the difference a player like David Miller made during Gujarat’s victorious 2022 campaign. He emphasized that GT lacked a composed finisher who could build an innings and finish strong — something Miller did consistently that season.
“𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 6-7 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒕,” 𝑨𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝑹𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉.”
Moody further stated that if GT can discover a dependable Indian batter in the middle order, it would significantly improve the team’s balance and boost their title hopes in future editions.
“𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅.
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