Ahmedabad, April 17 Gujarat Titans batting coach Matthew Hayden has attributed his side’s recent consecutive victories in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 to disciplined, situational batting and smart cricket. GT, the IPL 2022 winners, began their season with twin defeats before getting successive wins.
“We have just been playing decent cricket. I think when you look at the points table, it's probably how we're playing. It's like not quite 50-50, but we're doing one of the disciplines well, while the other we could improve on. But it seemed like the last game against LSG, we were in our straps and hitting our ropes.
“Just the way that we kind of went about the process from a batting point of view was exceptional. It wasn't greedy batting; it was just situational batting. And it was a very good victory. So, hoping to get our first win here tonight and at home,” said Hayden in a pre-game chat with the broadcasters.
On sticking to a style of high-risk play in T20s, Hayden observed, “It works. When you look at the competition, and at the moment, our front-runners, Ricky Potting and Shreyas Iyer's team, when they go about their work, they do so in a very disciplined way.
“It won't please our fellow West Indian commentator, Ian Bishop, from our net run rate. But you know what? It makes for an interesting, compelling case when it comes to just playing sensible, smart cricket. The conditions will tell you what a good score is going to be.
“Average good score here winning is 213, which you'd have on your notes there, Marto (Katey Martin). So I think the maximum run chase is 207, and it's how you deconstruct and construct innings. We've got some wonderful players at the top of our order and some maybe under-resourced players in the middle order because they're not really getting the opportunity.
“So these are good problems to have. But for me, the marker is just how good you can be inside those first six overs. You certainly can't win it there, but you can definitely lose it,” he said.
Hayden also joked about missing being in the commentary box and on whether he has faced deliveries while overseeing the batters at GT nets this summer, Hayden quipped: “Yes, I've hit a few balls. They've been mostly white and smaller, but I've hit a few, which is good.”
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