Former Indian spinner Murali Kartik questioned Gujarat Titans’ batting order in IPL 2026 final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday. The former spinner questioned Gujarat Titans’ decision to send Nishant Sindhu ahead of Jos Buttler at number three position after they lost an early wicket of Shubman Gill.
Sindhu was dismissed after scoring 20 runs off 18 balls and thus the move didn’t pay dividends. On the other hand, Buttler was dismissed after scoring 19 runs off 23 balls but he was the man in form. Buttler ended his IPL 2026 season with 526 runs in 17 matches at an average of 37.57 and a strike rate of 152.46.
Murali Kartik said on Cricbuzz, “Their batting order itself was muddled. You’ve done something for such a long time, so why change it? ( Sindhu at 3). They got a mauling at Dharamshala against RCB, but they didn’t learn from that game. Not sending Jos Buttler at 3 showed their thinking was muddled.”
On the other hand, former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan questioned GT’s batting approach after their loss. Khan said Shubman Gill’s team was just not brave enough with the bat on the big day.
“They were just not brave enough, and you need that in a final. They created some moments through Rashid Khan with the ball. But they lost the game with the bat. They didn’t put enough for the bowlers to have a couple of moments,” said Zaheer (via the aforementioned source).
GT was able to post a below par score of 155 runs on the board and RCB were able to get over the line with five wickets to spare. Virat Kohli was the star of the show for his team, scoring a match-winning knock of 75 runs off 42 balls.
