Shubman Gill struck 85, Sai Sudharsan made 53 not out and Jos Buttler added 57 at Eden Gardens on Saturday, yet Gujarat Titans (GT) still came up 29 runs short in their chase. The three batter tallies were pivotal—at least one of them was involved in every over of GT’s run chase—but the visitors were restricted to 219 for 4 while chasing Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) 248, leaving GT without a “Q” beside their name on the IPL 2026 standings.
There was plenty to like about GT’s batting display, but it did not translate into a win on the day. Ambati Rayudu, appearing on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show, argued that a score in the region of 220 is often the ceiling for this group, and in IPL 2026 that has repeatedly proven insufficient.
“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, mainly because of the nature of the surface and the bowling. Buttler was expecting deliveries that he wasn’t getting. He was planning a lot. At his best, Buttler simply sees and reacts.”
“Apart from that, they gave it their best shot. This is the upper limit of GT’s batting,” Rayudu added.
Sanjay Bangar broadly agreed that Buttler was “not at his very best,” but pointed to another problem: GT have not consistently found confidence-building batting contributions beyond their top three. Nishant Sindhu and Rahul Tewatia were the only batters drafted in Saturday outside the three half-century-makers, and the duo managed just four runs in eight balls between them.
“Whether GT accept it or not is their call, but from the outside it does look like a concern. If you keep chasing targets that go beyond 225, it will eventually come back and hurt you,” Bangar said.
At the Eden Gardens post-match press conference, GT batting coach Parthiv Patel did not view the inability to overhaul the demanding total as a cause for worry. Parthiv highlighted that Sai Sudharsan’s elbow injury—sustained in the third over which forced him to retire hurt—arrived at a difficult moment. He had been batting comfortably on 13 off 23 balls before the setback, returning only in the 17th over. Parthiv also defended the decision to send Sai Sudharsan back with three-and-a-bit overs still remaining, rather than using a dedicated finisher role.
“If you look at the last six matches, we won five games. We chased and won two or three of those. So I don’t think [it is worrying],” Parthiv said. “Washington Sundar has started games with a fifty, and the way he’s been batting—he hasn’t got out, and he’s finished matches too. So I don’t think it’s a problem in that area. Even today, chasing nearly 250, we made 220. So I don’t think that’s the issue.”
“Sai Sudharsan has the ability… I know it doesn’t look like he hits the ball [hard], but he actually does hit it really hard. Even in terms of strike-rate, there’s no concern. He can do it in both games. Even when he came in after the 17th over, he still found boundaries—he still hit sixes,” Parthiv added.
Bangar, however, felt GT still needed a more reliable six-hitting option and suggested Anuj Rawat as a potential answer. Rawat played 22 matches for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) across IPL 2022 to 2025, though he has been sitting on the bench at GT.
“I do feel there is a player, and we keep seeing him in the impact list. That is Anuj Rawat. He can hit against both pace and spin,” Bangar said. “He has good experience with RCB and has won a couple of matches in that style. If GT want to go all the way and win the championship, they have to move away from the mindset of ‘all is well’. They’re justified in thinking that with 16 points on the table, but it shouldn’t end up hurting them.”
For now, GT plan to keep their approach straightforward. Their final league-stage fixture comes on Thursday against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Parthiv said that as long as they stay away from avoidable errors—such as the four catches that were dropped on Saturday—they are comfortable with where things stand.
“It’s a simple scenario for us. We don’t have to worry about other results either. It is in our hands. If we win the game, we qualify—simple as that. I don’t think we need to think about other results. For us it is simple math,” Parthiv said.
“We try to keep it as straightforward as possible. We know our strengths and our weaknesses. We want to build on what we do well and make sure we commit fewer unforced errors. But cricket is such that sometimes mistakes happen, and our plan is not to complicate things—keep it simple,” he concluded.
