Titans confident ahead of playoffs despite Rashid Khan’s poor form this season along with the issue of the fourth seamer.
Titans confident in the make-up of their side as they enter the playoff stretch of the IPL 2025.
The Gujarat Titans (GT) have already dropped four IPL 2025 games. They have failed to meet enormous goals in two of those instances: Punjab Kings (PBKS) scored 243 for 5 early in the game, and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) scored 235 for 2 on Thursday night. In retrospect, their potent batting lineup produced subpar totals the previous two times. According to Varun Aaron, GT’s third (fourth) seamer has been the problem when they have lost, and this “has been camouflaged by their great batting.”
Their key seamers on Thursday were Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada, and Mohammed Siraj. The fourth, Arshad Khan, scored 36 runs in his three overs. The only one more costly was Rashid Khan. While Arshad (eight games, ER 9.21), Ishant Sharma (seven games, ER 11.18), and Kulwant Khejroliya (one game, ER 9.66) have stepped in sporadically, Prasidh and Siraj, along with Rashid and R Sai Kishore, have played all 13 of their games this season.
“I think the biggest problem GT have had throughout the whole season and that’s been really camouflaged by their great batting is their third [or fourth] seamer,” Aaron said on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out show. “Ishant Sharma was in and out. He was really expensive. Arshad Khan, again, was in and out, came back in now. Khejroliya played one game. So I think teams are going to look to go really hard against that third seamer.
“If they get a lot of runs against the third seamer, then Prasidh Krishna comes [in early] and goes a little searching for wickets because he has been that guy who has gotten them wickets. Exactly what happened today – the third seamer has gone for runs, and throughout the tournament that’s been a pattern.”
Given that Prasidh and Siraj have performed well, Rashid may be GT’s biggest worry. With a price of 9.38 for his eight wickets this season, he has never been more costly. Rashid’s worst economy rate in IPL history prior to this season was 8.40 in 2024. He never had a season with a score higher than 6.73 from 2017 to 2022.
Rashid was only included in the attack in the 12th over on Thursday, when Mitchell Marsh was nearing his century, possibly as a recognition of his lacklustre performances this season. By then, Sai Kishore had bowled two overs. They had a collective return of 5-0-70-1 at the conclusion. Aiden Markram’s wicket wasn’t against Rashid’s name.
“It was late. Normally you see Rashid come in when you’re in desperate need to strike. But that tells you maybe something about where the confidence is when it comes to Rashid Khan at the moment, not only from his own personal point of view, but also the captaincy’s point of view. You know, we’re not going to introduce him too early,” Tom Moody, Aaron’s co-panellist, said. “But Sai Kishore, you can’t take too much away from him. He got the nod ahead of Rashid. He’s still a very crafty bowler. But he was hit by a tidal wave today.
“He [Rashid] has taken time to find his rhythm again. Any bowler, whether you are a spinner or a pace bowler, coming back from a significant back surgery, it takes time. It’s not only the mechanical side of things, it’s confidence as well, that comes with that.”