Data Shorts: GT quicks go slow to maximize impact

Parthiv Patel – a two-time IPL winner with Mumbai Indians and the current assistant coach of Gujarat Titans – admitted to the preference for a black-soil pitch against his former franchise. The MI batters, more used to a truer red-soil surface at their home base Wankhede, found it increasingly difficult to time the ball during their run-chase and eventually fell 36 short. The tricky nature of the pitch was summed up in one particular delivery – the first ball of the 14th over bowled by Prasidh Krishna – a sub-130 kmph slower bouncer that hit Suryakumar Yadav flush on the helmet as he tried to scoop one when he was 45 off 23.

The slower ones remained a prime weapon for GT, as their seamers turned it around with 5/111 in 14 overs at an economy of 7.92, after going for 1/157 at 13.08 in their run-filled season opener. There were just seven slower ones in the game between GT and PBKS with dew being a prominent feature. That number catapulted to 10 times across the two innings combined on Saturday. GT would've taken a cue from their batting innings, as shot-making was visibly difficult with pace-off deliveries.

Batters vs slower ones against quicks in Ahmedabad in IPL 2025

M5: GT vs PBKS: 18 off 7 balls, no wickets (SR: 257.14)

M9: GT vs MI: 81 off 70 balls, four wickets (SR: 115.71)

Prasidh Krishna used the variation most effectively, the 11 off-cutters in his four-over spell costing him just eight runs at a time the required rate had already gone past 11 – two of them dismissing the set Tilak Varma and Suryakumar. Kagiso Rabada went for 15 in the only over he bowled in the powerplay – going at pace with the new ball – but returned to bowl 11 off-cutters and two leg-cutters across his next three overs at a later stage. Such was the impact of GT quicks that in one of its kind occurrence, it was the first time that Rashid Khan – the leading-wicket taker in T20s and GT's first retention – wasn't required to finish his four-over quota in a completed 20-over innings in the IPL.

GT will be up against Royal Challengers Bengaluru next at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Yash Dayal's slower ones helped the hosts get over the line in a tense finish last year to cap off a remarkable resurgence. Quite remarkably, despite its small boundary dimensions, the slower ones were most effective at that ground among all of them in IPL 2024, with 27 wickets at an economy of 8.02 and a strike-rate of 7.1. After it fetched them success on Saturday, a repeat of tactics might well be worth it for the 2022 winners in their next outing.