IPL 2025: Did Shubman Gill’s Gujarat Titans lose momentum at the wrong time? Top reasons for Qualifier 1 loss.
Gujarat Titans (GT) had already qualified for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 playoffs by their 12th game, having collected 18 points after winning nine games. Thereafter, it all went downhill for them as Gujarat lost three in a row to be knocked out of the tournament. Where did Gujarat go wrong in the business end of the tournament? Did they peak too early?
First, let’s have a look at what went right for Gujarat in the first 12 games of the season.
Top-order in form, consistent pace bowling attack
GT openers Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill were giving the team great starts throughout the tournament till the 12th game. They even knocked off 200 runs without losing a wicket in their 12th game against Delhi Capitals. They were ably supported by Jos Buttler at No 3, who was holding one end up as others batted around him to finish off the innings on a high or chase it down with ease.
Till GT’s 12th game, the pace bowlers were just unplayable. Prasidh Krishna was hitting those hard lengths, and it was difficult to score runs off him. Mohammed Siraj was getting those early wickets, putting pressure on the opposition. Left-arm orthodox spinner Sai Kishore was also bowling wonderfully, taking wickets in the middle-overs.
Till their 12th game, GT batters made a total more than 200 six times, while they conceded 200 only thrice. They won nine out of 12 games, winning five times when chasing and four times when defending. It was a complete team effort from batters and bowlers till then. Their batters were topping the batting and bowling charts, while Gill’s leadership was praised for his bowling changes, field placements and leading from the front.
Read More: IPL 2025, Eliminator, GT vs MI: Mumbai hold their own in high pressure tie, GT eliminated
What happened post the 12th game
The three games GT played post that they had to field first, and each time their bowling attack was taken to task, and conceded a total above 225. They faced Lucknow and Chennai in their last two league games. Both these teams, who were already out of the tournament and had nothing to lose, came out all guns blazing and blasted the GT’s bowling attack. In the Eliminator against Mumbai Indians, the same treatment was meted out to GT bowlers, with sloppy fielding in the powerplay making things worse for them.
The bowlers were not prepared for this onslaught and didn’t have a plan B to fall back on. The likes of Krishna, Siraj, and Kishore leaked runs. Their foreign pace bowlers, Kagiso Rabada and Gerald Coetzee, didn’t fare well either. With Rashid out of form, Sai Kishore struggled to pull things back in the middle overs. Eventually, GT batters suddenly saw chasing a total above 225 each time. They have only successfully chased a total of 200-205 twice before this season, and failed to chase down 244 in their first match against Punjab, falling short by 11 runs.
Hence, a target of 2225-plus had put added pressure on GT batters to score runs at a faster pace than, say, a target of 200, where GT batters have successfully chased down twice by pacing their innings as per the required run-rate. Hence, the extra 25 runs made things tough for GT batters.
Read More: IPL 2025: GT’s Shubman Gill & Sai Sudharsan setting the bar high for openers
Openers fail to give a good start in the last three games
GT have relied on good starts from Gill-Sudharsan throughout the season. But in the last three games, the two failed to provide a good start for the first wicket. In the last three games, GT openers made 24, 46, and 1 for the opening wicket. Gill-Sudharsan got individual starts in the last two league games, but could not go on to score a big one. In the Eliminator, Sudharsan played a big innings of 80 but fell in the death overs amid a rising required run-rate. Buttler missing from the Eliminator due to international duty didn’t help the cause either.
Middle-order exposed
The top three GT batters have done so well together till the 12th game that the middle-order comprising Sherfane Rutherford, M Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia didn’t have much game time. Rutherford played a few cameos here and there, while Shahrukh made a fifty only in the 13th game. Tewatia came too late down the order and hardly got enough balls to plan his innings. He just has to come and hit out or perish.
The top three of Gill-Sudharsan-Buttler made 2000 runs among themselves, with 1 ton and 17 fifties. In comparison, Rutherford-Shahrukh-Tewatia made only about 600 runs with just one fifty. It tells the story of how the lack of game time to middle-order batters came to haunt Gujarat in the last three games.
It's been said that GT's strength has been their bowling but numbers tell a different story. Runs conceded by GT in last 6 innings: 212, 199, 155, 235, 230 and 228. Bowlers and fielders let them down, not batters. #MIvsGT
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 31, 2025
Read More: GT’s Top Order and Bowling Falter in Defeat to LSG
Bowling loses its sheen
Gujarat bowlers, especially the pacers, were doing exceedingly well till the 12th game. They were taking wickets, keeping the run in check, and not allowing the opposition to break free. Prasidh Krishna was economical and striking simultaneously. Sai Kishore was stifling and picking up wickets in the middle-overs. Until they ran into teams who had nothing to lose and played spoilsport. Lucknow, Chennai made a total of over 230, smacking the GT bowlers with disdain. GT bowlers could not recover from this onslaught and lost the chance to finish top two. The eliminator went on similar lines. Rashid’s continued poor form didn’t help the team either, while there was no reliable foreign pacer in the line-up.
No leadership support for Gill
Gill was doing wonderfully well as a leader till the 12th game, and he was hoping for a top-two finish after the form they had shown with bat and ball. But when things started falling apart from the 13th game, Gill had no support to look forward to. He had no one to go back and ask for suggestions and help, as he was leading a young team. The lack of a leadership group in GT had Gill suffer alone during these last three games, and eventually, GT got knocked out. In comparison, Mumbai already have international captains in the XI, and Pandya has a lot of support from the leadership group to look for answers, suggestions and help. He had Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah to get input from. But unfortunately, it wasn’t the case with Gill.
Read More: IPL 2025: Top three captains so far
