2 min readJun 1, 2026 07:03 PM IST
Gujarat Titans slightly changed their batting order during the final against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Jos Buttler, who batted at number three for the franchise, was demoted to number four, and Nishant Sindhu came in to bat at three.
“Buttler batted at 3 throughout the tournament. And then came the final, batting first, he moved down to bat at 4. I can’t get my head around why you changed the role in the final. Even AB de Villiers said it was a defensive move,” Broad said on the for the love of cricket YouTube channel.
Analysing the move, Broad predicted that the change might have come because GT felt the wicket could improve for batting in the second innings.
“Buttler dropping down was surprising as it’s not like he’s not exposed to the new ball, having opened so much for England. It does seem slightly curious. The only rationale behind the move was the think tank feeling the pitch was going to get better and have the guy at No.3 to just stay at the crease until the wicket got better for batting, allowing Jos to catch up and do his thing,” said Broad.
Additionally, Broad also pointed out GT’s overdependence on their openers, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan. He said having such a prolific top order gives less exposure to the middle order.
“The problems of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan each scoring over 700 runs were seen in the final. When your openers are this consistent, it doesn’t give your middle order much exposure under pressure. And when you need them, they might not be able to drag you over the line. Both openers failed today, and immediately, the thought was they were done,” said Broad.
Once the openers fell, GT could only manage 155 runs, which RCB chased down quite comfortably with Virat Kohli slamming 75 runs from 42 deliveries.
