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Gujarat Titans' (GT) in-form captain Shubman Gill departed early in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final. After Gill was dismissed on the second ball of the third over by Josh Hazlewood, Jos Buttler was expected to come out to bat but it was an inexperienced Nishant Sindhu who was given the opportunity at the big stage. Sindhu couldn't make the most of it and struggled in powerplay overs. He departed for an 18-ball 20 which led to questions being raised towards GT’s think tank as to why Sindhu was sent ahead of Buttler. After the five-wicket defeat, GT’s Director of Cricket, Vikram Solanki, revealed that there was no discussion about it and it was head coach Ashish Nehra’s call. Seemingly, even Gill who was walking back to the dugout, didn’t have an idea about it either.
"That was a bit of a judgement call. Ashish (Nehra) made that call to send him in at No. 3 at that time. We didn't really discuss it, but Ashish makes those calls now and again, if the captain is around, in conjunction with the captain," Solanki said in the post-match press conference.
Tactically, sending Sindhu would’ve made sense if Sai Sudharsan had departed instead of Gill in order to maintain the right-left combination. But, Sindhu walked out after Gill’s wicket. However, in the next over, Buttler had to walk out to bat as well as Sudharsan lost his wicket to Bhuvneshwar Kumar's bouncer. Both Sindhu and Buttler had an off day in the middle. Sindhu scored 20 runs from 18 balls before falling to Rasikh Salam Dar whereas Buttler was dismissed stumped out for a 23-ball 19.
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Sindhu’s ordinary run in IPL 2026
22-year-old Sindhu has been preferred over Kumar Kushagra by GT think tank. He has played eight games this season and scored 63 runs from five innings at an average of 12.60 and strike rate.
Buttler crossed 500-run mark again
On the other hand, Buttler was not at his best but still managed to score 526 runs at an average of 37.57 and strike rate of 152.46, featuring four fifties. In a high-stakes pressure game, sending Buttler would've made more sense.
In the end, GT ended up posting a below par total of 155/8. The target was chased down by RCB in 18 overs with five wickets in hand.
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