IPL 2023: Gujarat Titans coach Ashish Nehra and captain Hardik Pandya deserve credit for playoffs, says Aaron Finch

Former Australian skipper Aaron Finch believes Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra and captain Hardik Pandya deserve credit for taking the team to the playoffs for the second time in a row. The defending champions became the first team to seal their playoff berth in the IPL 2023 after their convincing 34-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Monday.

Ashish Nehra has done a fabulous job for Gujarat Titans as a head coach while Hardik Pandya has been leading with aplomb despite not being in the best of forms with the bat.

GT has once again come up with a collective effort as they have won nine out of the 13 matches they have played so far. The reigning champions have been a force to reckon with in the ongoing season and they will be looking to go all the way.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill scored his first IPL century against the Orange Army as he played a fine knock of 101 runs off just 58 balls. Thus, he helped GT in posting 188 runs on the board whereas Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma scalped four wickets each to keep SRH to 154-9 in their 20 overs.

“When you put a team together from scratch, you look for characters among your squad that can help build that culture,” Finch said on Star Sports. “It is not easy when you bring in people from all around the world that can just walk in and be harmonious.

“Huge amount of credit goes to Ashish Nehra, Hardik Pandya and Vikram Solanki as well as they have structured up this side, fitting personalities together but not just that. One thing is to find people who are so skillful and good at their job and the other is to find guys who work well together and play well together, that’s such an underrated thing.”

Hardik Pandya has been able to get the best out of his players and he will look to continue the good show in the upcoming matches. Gujarat Titans will play their last league stage match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Sunday.