SRH vs GT: "They didn't even know their best XI" - Mohammad Kaif's bold take on Gujarat Titans' poor IPL 2024 season

Gujarat Titans (GT) have had a disappointing season under their new captain, Shubman Gill, in the ongoing IPL 2024. The IPL 2022 winners could not find the right balance, and then the lack of batting firepower made things worse for Gujarat in the lucrative T20 tournament.

As the Gujarat Titans (GT) were eliminated from the ongoing IPL 2024 after their final home washed out against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens on May 13, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif reviewed their campaign and Gill’s performance both as captain and batter.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Kaif highlighted the issues that led to the Gujarat Titans' (GT) struggles in the ongoing IPL 2024. The commentator pointed out that GT’s batting was a significant problem this season.

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Mohammad Kaif highlights GT’s struggles after IPL 2024 elimination

Despite high-scoring games in the tournament, where teams were chasing 200 runs and scoring 250 runs easily, GT rarely reached the 200-run mark. The former Indian batter also said that many of GT’s batters were out of form, and even their captain, Shubman Gill, started the season well but went through a lean phase where he didn't score many runs.

However, Gill managed to score a century against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Furthermore, Kaif mentioned that GT brought in Sai Sudharsan to open the batting, and this move should have been made five matches earlier.

He said that the left-right combination of Sudharsan and Gill would have helped GT, but they continued with Wriddhiman Saha in a lot of matches despite the fact that the keeper couldn’t make any significant impact, and it cost them heavily.

Shubman Gill found his form too late: Mohammad Kaif

Kaif suggested that things could have been different for GT had they promoted Sudharsan up the order and strengthened their batting combination. He noted that many matches are now being decided in the first six overs, with openers like KKR's Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, and SRH's Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma attacking aggressively from the start.

He said that the aggressive start set the tone for the teams this season and GT didn't have that luxury.

Mohammad Kaid said on Star Sports: “Shubman Gill played well at the start but then there was a phase where Shubman Gill didn't score runs at all, although he scored a century in the last match. Although he played extremely well in the last match, I believe he got late. They didn't know at all what their best XI was this year. I think they changed 22 or 23 players as well. Gujarat generally doesn't make changes. They had difficulties there.”

In the end, Kaif also noted that the Gujarat Titans brought in Shahrukh Khan late in the season and gave Abhinav Manohar only a single match. Kane Williamson was also given a chance in just one or two games before being sidelined for the entire season. He feels GT’s bowling was relatively strong, with effective performances from Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed, and Mohit Sharma, but the batters failed to deliver and led to their dismal campaign.