Jaipur, May 10 (PTI) Gujarat Titans batting coach Matthew Hayden believes they possess a destructive bowling attack and are loaded with “apex predators” at the top of the order, with the side beginning to peak at the right time in the Indian Premier League.
The Titans have won four matches on the trot, including a 77-run victory over Rajasthan Royals here on Saturday, to move into second spot as the race for playoff intensifies.
“It is a very good team. It is a dangerous bowling side, and that is what we have seen tonight. It can be a very destructive bowling side.
“We have just got so many apex predators at the top of the batting order, that one, two, three is such a solid unit,” Hayden said at the post-match press conference.
The Titans’ also boast of a varied bowling attack that includes the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Rashid Khan, Jason Holder, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar and Sai Kishore.
“We did not even play Prasidh Krishna, another international player. We have got versatility as a side, and saw tonight with Sai Kishore. And we are starting to play with great confidence.” “Tonight was actually the first game as a coach that I thought like we put all of those departments together really nicely so this win away from home was an important win for us,” he added.
In the era of brutal power-hitting, GT have charted their own formula for success, relying on their top three of skipper Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler to do the heavy lifting.
“Gujarat Titans have gone about this tournament their own way. They have constructed a line-up that revolves around consistency. Not exactly going to set the world on fire with star power.” Against RR, openers Sudharsan and Gill laid the platform for a huge total of 229/4 with a 118-run opening stand before Rahul Tewatia blazed his way to 14 off four balls.
The Australian batting great feels teams chasing targets in excess of 200 need to bat deeper, which the GT top 3 have managed to do.
“Well, tonight was a good example, right, of an exciting young talent in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. He batted, got 30 runs at a strike rate of 300.
“But when you’re chasing 220 odd, you need to bat longer and deeper. So the advantage that we have is that we get players, like the top three that you mentioned, who are striking at 150.” “As a batter, that is really hard, and they’re doing it for a long period of time, they’re constantly getting into the back half of the game, not just batting inside the powerplay. They’re going right through with their fitness and their ability to be able to really play Test match-type cricket, and ODI cricket in particular.” PTI APA BS BS
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