NEW DELHI: Gujarat Titans\u2019 batting coach Matthew Hayden left little room for excuses after his side suffered a crushing 99-run loss to Mumbai Indians, describing the outing as \u201ca horrible day\u201d and calling GT\u2019s batting display \u201cunacceptable\u201d in a blunt post-match assessment.<\/p>\n
With a target of 200 in front of them, Gujarat were dismissed for just 100, and Hayden pointed to a collapse that, in his view, laid bare issues in both mindset and execution. \u201cI expect our margins to be a lot smaller than 100. That is an unacceptable scorecard for our batting unit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a horrible day for us today. Truth be told, there was nothing good about this day,\u201d Hayden added, underlining how thoroughly the chase had unravelled.<\/p>\n
Hayden felt the match slipped away during the powerplay, with the Titans\u2019 top order failing to provide any meaningful platform. Even with big names in the line-up such as Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler, GT crumbled early and exposed the middle order far too soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, middle order was undoubtedly exposed today. When they\u2019re coming in with six overs, you know that you\u2019re in deep trouble,\u201d Hayden said. \u201cYou can\u2019t win it in the powerplay, but you can definitely lose it \u2014 and we lost it there.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also stressed that GT\u2019s batting framework is built on strong starts, arguing that players like Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan and Glenn Phillips were pushed into situations that do not suit their natural roles. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be allowing these guys lots of balls. That\u2019s not their role. That\u2019s not what they train for,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
While Hayden\u2019s sharpest criticism was aimed at the batting, he did not spare the bowling unit either, especially the finish. Mumbai Indians, after reaching 44\/3, accelerated to 199\/5, blasting 73 runs in the final four overs\u2014an end-phase Hayden branded a \u201chorror story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was just a horror story \u2014 73 off the last four is unacceptable as world-class players,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was purely an executional thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hayden further argued that the pitch did not warrant such a high total, suggesting Gujarat were well below expectations on that surface. \u201cWe were very average with the ball on a wicket that I really felt was probably a 175-type wicket,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Even with plenty of batting talent available, Hayden made it clear that reputation and names alone do not guarantee results. \u201cWhen you look down at our batting line-up, we\u2019ve got wonderful players that have to be in a better mindset and better position to take their opportunities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also pointed to the wider reality of the defeat, saying the margin could not be treated as a near-miss. \u201cYou can\u2019t be sitting here happy about a 100-run margin game in a 20-over match.\u201d<\/p>\n
In closing, Hayden offered a stark reflection on how quickly the chase spiralled out of control. \u201cBy that stage, I felt like as a batting coach, I was on the mast and the boat was sinking.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI: Gujarat Titans\u2019 batting coach Matthew Hayden left little room for excuses after his side suffered a crushing 99-run loss to Mumbai Indians, describing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2024: Matthew Hayden Criticizes GT Collapse vs MI","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Matthew Hayden calls GT\u2019s 99-run collapse vs MI \u201cunacceptable\u201d after a 200-run chase fizzles out, as Mumbai clinch a big win in IPL 2024.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n