GT top-order embrace traditional methods for maximum substance

In IPL 2024, the Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad raised the bar by playing extremely aggressively upfront, earning them a spot in the final. In the phase, neither team has ever gone over 11 runs per over, a feat that no other team has ever accomplished. Even though that was viewed as a good starting point for the IPL 2025, the Gujarat Titans have effectively followed a fairly conventional approach to building innings to maximize substance. In the IPL 2025 buildup, a first look at the GT's possible starting XI suggested an excessive reliance on the top three. Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler have responded brilliantly. The trio has scored 11 more than 50 goals in eight games, accounting for a staggering 73.08 percent of team runs (excluding extras). To dominate the middle overs like no other team in the competition, they have concentrated on keeping wickets intact during the powerplay. In IPL 2025, GT have lost just six wickets (one by runout) in Overs 1-6, averaging a whopping 73.16 runs per wicket. The fact that, out of all teams, they have only attacked 51.8 percent of deliveries is interesting. SRH, on the other hand, leads this category with 73.8%, but in contrast to last year, that strategy has only yielded results twice in 2025. With Virat Kohli holding his end strong in four of their five victories and Rajat Patidar leading the charge against CSK, RCB, who are the next best team with 67.6%, have benefited. GT have had the most scoring shots, but their dot-ball percentage is the lowest, at 32.2 percent. Similar to how they did against KKR on Monday, GT's 45/0 powerplay featured only 50% attacking strokes, with the same emphasis placed on the strike-rotating ones (42.1%). KKR had an identical score for the loss of two wickets despite attacking 67.5% of deliveries. In the first six overs, GT had no false shots, while KKR had ten (27 percent), demonstrating Gill and Sudharsan's technical prowess even more. GT had the highest strike-rate (162.4) and average (52.37) against spin in IPL 2025 going into Match 39, while KKR had the highest economy (6.51) and average (18.25) against spin with 20 wickets. Despite two quiet overs from Moeen Ali in the powerplay, the KKR spinners collectively went at 0/96 in 11 overs (ER: 8.72) in a buildup to potentially a game-defining contest. In the middle phase (Overs 7-15), GT scored 94/1, matching its earlier tournament intensity.