The Gujarat Titans, a franchise that took everyone by storm with an IPL title win in their very first season, is set for some major reshuffling behind the scenes. Head coach Ashish Nehra and Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki are likely to leave before the 2025 edition, according to fairly reliable sources. This comes after another mentor of the team, Gary Kirsten, moved on to take up a full-time role with the Pakistan cricket team.
The exits signal the end of an era for the Titans, who made it back to the finals in 2023 and slumped to an eighth-place finish in 2024 under their new captain Shubman Gill. Speculations are rife over the probable induction of Yuvraj Singh in the coaching staff after the vacancy. While nothing has been finalized as of now, there are reportedly discussions ongoing of bringing the former Indian star onboard.
“A lot of changes are on the cards,” revealed a source close to the situation. “Ashish Nehra and Vikram Solanki are highly likely to move on, and discussions on Yuvraj Singh have already begun. Nothing is finalized right now, but there could be some major changes in the coaching staff of the Gujarat Titans.”
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Backroom staff overhaul might not be restricted to the top positions. Assistant coaches Aashish Kapoor, Naeem Amin, Narender Negi, and Mithun Manhas could be looking at other IPL teams.
Their strong and balanced squad, with good leadership, was the reason behind the initial success of the Titans. However, 2024 became quite a challenging season for them. With Hardik Pandya off to the Mumbai Indians, an irreplaceable gap was left in their batting and all-round abilities, and the absence of Mohammed Shami, their key pacer, from the bowling attack further hurt them.
Yuvraj Singh in consideration as Ashish Nehra and Vikram Solanki are likely to leave Gujarat Titans.
Mentor Gary Kirsten moved on when he took up full-time role with Pakistan team. https://t.co/8Bsyr1qKay
— Sahil Malhotra (@Sahil_Malhotra1) July 23, 2024
Over the next few weeks, attention will be on fleshing out the new coaching staff of the Titans. With the exoduses of Ashish Nehra, Vikram Solanki, and Kirsten, the franchise has to find capable replacements in order to guide the team back to its winning ways.
This is going to be the meeting of IPL franchise owners with the Board of Control for Cricket in India over some key matters concerning player retentions, rules on “Impact Player,” and salary purse for the mega auction. The meeting, likely at the end of July, will put the finishing touches to the preparations for the next season of IPL.
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With a revamped coaching staff and some very important calls to be made at the BCCI level, the future for the Gujarat Titans gets interesting. The fans will be looking forward to whether the franchise can regain that early magic with new leadership and the probable experience of Yuvraj Singh.
