England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler has said that his surprise demotion in the batting order during the IPL final was a call made by Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra. The decision to send Nishant Sindhu ahead of Buttler did not work out for the Titans, who were routed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the title match at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Gujarat had arrived at the final with momentum after a strong win over Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2. However, their momentum was checked by an RCB side that had already beaten them in Qualifier 1, and in the final they struggled across departments. Chasing a second championship, the Titans were unable to seize control at any stage of the contest.
The collapse began early when captain Shubman Gill was dismissed for 10 in the third over. In a bold tactical adjustment, Gujarat promoted Nishant Sindhu to bat at number three ahead of Buttler, aiming to disrupt RCB’s bowling plan. The gamble backfired: Sai Sudharsan departed in the very next over, tightening the pressure on the Titans, while Nishant managed 20 runs before being dismissed in the eighth over. By then, the innings had already lost the rhythm Gujarat needed.
Buttler then failed to accelerate through the middle phase, scoring 19 off 23 balls before falling. Gujarat finished on 155, a score that proved insufficient as RCB comfortably chased down the target to lift the trophy and complete back-to-back IPL titles.
Nehera’s call behind Buttler’s surprise promotion
Buttler shared that the decision to bring Nishant up the order was driven by Nehra’s tactical thinking. He said that after Gill’s early dismissal, he had started preparing to come in, only to be told to wait as Nishant would be sent at three.
“When the first wicket went down, I got up to put my helmet on. But Ashish Nehra said, ‘You sit back down, we are going to send Nishant in at 3’. I did ask him after the game, and he just said it felt reactive at that point, and it was a good chance to get Nishant in the game as he’s a top-order batter,” Buttler said on the For The Love of Cricket Podcast.
Buttler added that the underlying idea was to give Nishant a more meaningful role in the innings, pointing out that the youngster had often found himself pushed down the order or limited to short opportunities to bat.
“He has been sometimes on that slippery slope where the team gets going, and he has ended up not batting or batting at 7. So it was a decision to get him in the game. He had batted ahead of me in another game against KKR. Right or wrong, it just didn’t work out for us,” he added.
Buttler on his own final: “Not a great look”
Buttler also addressed his own performance, admitting that he did not deliver the sort of impact Gujarat required once he arrived at the crease in a difficult situation. He said his intent was to take the innings deep after losing wickets early, but he struggled to find the boundaries and was eventually dismissed by Krunal Pandya.
“When I did bat, I wanted to take it deep as we had lost a few wickets. I just never got the boundaries and got done in by a good piece of bowling from a smart operator, Krunal Pandya. It’s disappointing when you go worse than a run-a-ball in an IPL final. It’s not a great look,” Buttler concluded.
