Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar praised the owners of Gujarat Titans (GT) for not interfering too much in the team’s cricketing affairs.
Since being founded in 2022, the Titans have made the playoffs in 4 out of 5 seasons, and even won the tournament in their first year.
Last year, the franchise changed ownership when Torrent Group purchased a majority stake in the franchise from the previous owners, CVC Capital, but it had no impact on on-field performance.
GT in IPL 2026
After the first part of silence, Gujarat Titans Had a great second half in IPL 2026 and eventually finished second in the points table. One better than last year.
In their first 7 matches, GT had won three matches amid two losses of two matches each. By the second half, GT had put this instability behind them and went on a five-game winning streak before finally losing a game.
The team still won their last match of the league stage and confirmed that they would finish first or second in the points table.
Their consistency can mostly be attributed to the captain’s opening pair Shubman Gill and southpaw Sai Sudarshan. Both of them along with number 3 Jos Buttler are playing an important role in scoring runs for the team.
Gujarat Titans have often been criticized for playing “slow and traditional”, but this approach has worked. Apart from the top 3, the pace battery led by Kagiso Rabada and Jason Holder has contributed a lot to the team’s success.
And let’s not forget top spinner Rashid Khan, who completely lost his rhythm during the last year.
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“It’s an interesting franchise” – Sanjay Manjrekar
Manjrekar spoke to Sportstar about how he thinks this will work very well for the Gujarat team. He praised the team owners for not being in the public eye and letting cricket director Vikram Solanki run the show.
Manjrekar also praised his head coach Ashish Nehra for his consistency on the field.
“It’s really a remarkable story because it’s a new franchise, and it’s not a franchise where you see the owners sitting on a sofa; they’re not in your face like that. Nobody knows the owners. The person handling the operations is a former England cricketer (Vikram Solanki) with a corporate background. So, it’s a very interesting franchise, and his performance has been fantastic. Somewhere, Ashish Nehra, who has been consistent, must be very proud of this,” Sanjay Manjrekar said.
Manjrekar’s comment about the owners sitting on the sofa is probably a dig at the mother-son duo of Nita and Akash Ambani, who own it. Mumbai Indians.
Especially this year, Ambani has been seen sitting on a special sofa near the boundary ropes in each of his team’s matches. Earlier, BCCI had made rules regarding the conversation of team owners with players during the match.
GT’s next match in IPL 2026
After finishing second in the points table, Dharamshala will leave to play GT. qualifier 1 On Tuesday.
In that game, GT will face table toppers Royal Challengers Bangalore. The winner of the game will get a direct entry into the IPL final in Ahmedabad on May 31, while the loser will get a second chance to reach the final by playing the second qualifier in Mullanpur on May 27.
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