IPL 2025: Parthiv Patel explains reason behind Washington Sundar's exclusion from GT vs RR clash
Though Sundar was named as one of the substitutes, Kulwant Khejroliya was brought in as the Impact Player by GT.
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Gujarat Titans' batting coach, Parthiv Patel, reasoned why Washington Sundar was left out against Gujarat Titans' XI in their recent clash against Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday, April 9.
This comes after a lot of supporters were left disappointed in the management's call particularly after putting in a match-defining performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad a few days back. However, Parthiv shared that the decision was made after assessing the match situation.
Notably, Sundar came in at No. 4 against SRH after the side lost Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler within four overs of their run-chase. The bowling all-rounder joined Shubman Gill to stitch a crucial 90-run partnership off just 56 deliveries, out of which Sundar contributed 49 (29).
"He wasn't part of our playing XI. We wanted to see the situation. We've always done that. In the last game, when two wickets fell early, he came in and batted. For our team, it's about knowing the situation and understanding the conditions. We felt we might need a fourth seamer in the second innings. Even if we had lost couple of wickets early, then it would've been a different story," stated Parthiv during the post-match press conference, as quoted by India Today.
We’re not looking at experimenting for the sake of it: Parthiv
The former Indian wicketkeeper-batter also mentioned that the think tank was strictly against any sort of experimentation in a high-stake tournament like the IPL.
"Here, we had enough batters who could do the job for us. This is not the tournament to experiment. It’s a long tournament, yes, but we assess each game individually, whether we win or lose. We’re not looking at experimenting for the sake of it," added Parthiv.
GT are currently in fine form, winning four out of the five games they have played. Their next encounter is against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, April 12. The match is slated to commence at 3:30 pm (IST).
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