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GT vs RR IPL 2022 Final: How the unsung duo of Nehra and Kirsten fashioned Gujarat Titans title win

GT vs RR IPL 2022 Final: How the unsung duo of head coach Ashish Nehra and batting coach Gary Kirsten fashion Gujarat Titans title win. Read the inside story here.

Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra

Ahmedabad, May 30: Gujarat Titans’ impressive run through the IPL 2022 culminated with them winning the title beating Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday (May 20).

A lot of attention will rightfully go to GT captain Hardik Pandya, but there are two other men who worked more silently from behind the scenes, but as much creditworthy as anyone else.

They are head coach Ashish Nehra and batting coach Gary Kirsten.

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“I am really chuffed. You are looking for balance, depth at the auction but the most important is you need guys who are versatile. We had a strong bowling attack throughout the tournament and towards the end we even went a bowler extra and a batter light.

“Hardik has been incredibly humble and eager to learn. He batted beautifully, taking responsibility which is different from what we have seen of him in the IPL. T20 is a very tactical game.

“I loved working with Ashish, he is tactically very good. It's an incredible winning in your first season in front of 100,000 people,” Kirsten told Star Sports after GT won the title.

Even the GT captain Hardik had said he joined the franchise after seeing the names of Nehra and Kirsten in the coaching roster.

“Nehra is someone who can understand me and know me as a person and kind of get the best out of me. So for me, playing and spending so much time with him is always fun and I’ve always enjoyed his company no matter what,” Hardik had said.

“Our cricketing minds work in a similar fashion. He is someone who spends so much time looking after people (and) that is a fantastic quality.

“He makes sure he gives ample time to every individual. Ashu Pa (Nehra) and a lot of credit goes to the support staff to make sure that the outside environment is pretty chilled out and all that,” added Hardik.

Now, it is time for some history. Of course, May 29 will forever be remembered as the golden day for Nehra-Kirsten combo.

Gujarat Titans

But this is not the first time these two are working together.

2011 World Cup

Ashish Nehra was a member of the India squad that won the 2011 World Cup and Kirsten then was the head coach. It ended in a sweet note for the Nehra-Kirsten combo.

IPL 2019

This time Kirsten was the batting coach of RCB and Nehra the bowling coach of the franchise. But the stint ended in disaster as the Royal Challengers Bangalore ended 8th in the league and both Kirsten and Nehra were removed from their respective posts. Mike Hesson and Simon Katich replaced the duo in the RCB set up for the IPL 2020 onwards.

IPL 2022

The Nehra and Kirsten duo rejoined two years down the line for the new franchise Gujarat Titans. But there were a lot murmurs once Nehra was appointed as the head coach, after all the Delhiite did not have an impressive CV as the coach. But as later Hardik said both Nehra and Kirsten found a way to get the best out of the players and they were very clear in their vision about the kind of players they needed in GT set-up.

Talk about journey coming to a full circle!

Story first published: Monday, May 30, 2022, 9:33 [IST]
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