“I can’t get my head around it”

Former England pacer Stuart Broad slammed the Gujarat Titans (GT) for their sudden change in batting order in their IPL 2026 final loss to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Ahmedabad on May 31. Losing skipper Shubman Gill in the third over of the contest, GT surprisingly sent the uncapped Nishant Sindhu ahead of Jos Buttler at No.3.

Buttler came into bat at No.4 after GT’s other reliable opener, Sai Sudharsan, fell in the fourth over. The move backfired as both Sindhu and Buttler struggled, combining for 39 off 41 deliveries.

Slamming GT’s tactics after the final, Broad said on the For the Love of Cricket YouTube channel (8:42):

“Buttler batted at 3 throughout the tournament. And then come 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’s former England teammate, Steven Finn, also expressed surprise at Buttler’s demotion in the batting order, saying:

“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.”

GT’s batting went nowhere throughout the innings, finishing on a sub-par 155/8 in 20 overs. RCB chased the total down comfortably, winning by five wickets in 18 overs.

“The problems of Gill and Sai each scoring over 700 runs were seen in the final” – Stuart Broad

Stuart Broad believes GT’s opening duo of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan doing most of the heavy lifting with the bat throughout the IPL 2026 season ultimately spelled doom for the side in the final against RCB. Both openers had already amassed over 700 runs coming into the summit clash.

However, they each fell inside the first overs, a rarity this season, causing panic in GT’s well-oiled batting machine.

“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 (via the aforementioned source).

GT have now lost their last two IPL finals after the triumph in 2022. Their over-reliance on the top three has been a subject of much speculation over the past two seasons.