Gujarat Titans (GT) Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki has seemingly thrown head coach Ashish Nehra under the bus after the franchise’s defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2026 final.
The decision to promote Nishant Sindhu to number three ahead of star batter Jos Buttler became one of the biggest talking points of the summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, and Vikram Solanki has blamed Ashish Nehra for taking the call.
Nishant Sindhu promoted to number 3 over Jos Buttler in IPL 2026 final
The decision to send Nishant Sindhu at number three came immediately after Gujarat Titans lost skipper Shubman Gill for 10 runs. With one of the world’s best white-ball batters, Jos Buttler, waiting in the dugout, many expected the England star to walk in and take charge of the innings.
Instead, GT opted for the young Sindhu and the left-hander managed 20 runs off 18 balls, hitting three boundaries during his stay at the crease. However, he failed to convert the start into a significant contribution.
Sindhu’s innings came to an end in the eighth over when he mistimed a pull shot off Rasikh Salam and was caught by Devdutt Padikkal at long-on. At that stage, Gujarat Titans were reduced to 55/3 and suddenly found themselves under pressure.
The decision drew criticism from former South Africa captain AB de Villiers, who did not hold back while analyzing the move. The RCB legend termed the call defensive and questioned the logic behind keeping Buttler away from the crease in such a high-pressure game.
“It’s defensive, and I don’t like it. Is that clear enough?” De Villiers said while discussing the decision during the broadcast.
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Vikram Solanki breaks the silence on Nishant Sindhu’s promotion to number 3 in the IPL 2026 final
Speaking after the defeat, Vikram Solanki was asked about the controversial batting order decision. He made it clear that the call was taken by head coach Ashish Nehra.
“We didn’t really discuss it, but Ashish makes those calls now and again, if the captain’s around, in conjunction with the captain,” Solanki said.
“Nishant Sindhu, that was a bit of a judgement call. Ashish made that call to send him in at three at that time,” Solanki added.
Talking about Jos Buttler, he eventually scored 19 runs off 23 balls after arriving later in the innings as Gujarat Titans were restricted to 155/8 in the big final.
Vikram Solanki congratulates RCB on IPL 2026 triumph
Despite the disappointment of falling short in the final, Vikram Solanki was gracious in defeat and praised Royal Challengers Bengaluru for their title-winning performance.
“First and foremost congratulations to RCB. As far as our campaign is concerned we’re immensely proud as a group of what we’ve achieved. There’s no question we would have liked to have gone one step further,” Solanki said.
The GT director admitted that his side finished with a below-par total and felt they were short of a competitive score.
“That said, as far as the game today, I think we were probably 20-25 runs short, but it was exceptional to see the fight and the hunger the guys showed to bring that game so close to the finish.”
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