Ambati Rayudu suggested a few changes that could help the Gujarat Titans add more balance to their side after they lost their opening clash in IPL 2026
to the Punjab Kings on Tuesday, March 31. This game was played at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur.
After posting only 162/6 in their 20 overs, the Titans gave the home side a run for its money. However, in the end, Shreyas Iyer's men scratched and clawed their way to a three-wicket win with five balls to spare. Cooper Connolly stood out on his IPL debut, as he slammed an unbeaten half-century to take his team home.
After the match, Rayudu questioned Shahrukh Khan's role in the Titans' setup. The right-handed batter walked out to bat at No. 6, with 4.2 overs still left in the innings. However, he was dismissed for four runs in six balls in the penultimate over, which was bowled by Vijaykumar Vyshak. Rayudu mentioned that Shahrukh has failed to live up to his reputation for quite some time in the IPL.
"It's been quite a few seasons where there is a lot of talk of promise, but there is not much delivery there. He really owes it to GT because they've really banked on him to finish games. So they'll have to take a call on him soon. The yardstick should be - Has he improved from last year? Has he brought in something better? If that's not the case, then they have to take a call," Rayudu said on ESPNcricinfo while talking about Khan's place in the side.
Drop Rabada and get Holder: Rayudu's suggestion to Gujarat Titans to bolster batting department
Rayudu opined that the Gujarat Titans could have more balance on their side if they drop either Ashok Sharma or Mohammed Siraj and bring in a batter. He also suggested a straightforward swap with Kagiso Rabada, making way for Jason Holder to bolster the batting.
"You need to take a hard call and drop one of Ashok Sharma, Siraj or Prasidh Krishna. But now you can't drop Prasidh because of the way he is bowling. So it has to be between Siraj and Ashok. You can't play both of them. Or drop Rabada and get Holder, which will also solve the batting issue. And Prasidh definitely has to bowl one over in the first ten and possibly in the first six," said Rayudu (via the aforementioned source).
Rayudu also floated the idea of having England batter Tom Banton replacing Rabada to give the Titans five solid batting options, with Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler, and Glenn Phillips forming the top four.
"Tom Banton can come in for the middle overs. If not Holder, and they think they have enough bowling, they can get Banton in for Rabada. You need a proper batter. Apart from the top three and Glenn Phillips, you need one more and five overall quality batters in any side. You need five batters capable of playing spin and pace equally well," the cricketer-turned-expert added.
