IPL 2025: Parthiv Patel likely to join Gujarat Titans as batting mentor

Former India cricketer Parthiv Patel is set to be named as Gujarat Titans’ batting mentor ahead of the IPL 2025. Gary Kirsten, who was in charge previously, joined Pakistan as their white-ball head coach, which made room for Parthiv to join the franchise. Meanwhile, as per reports, Ashish Nehra and Vikram Solanki will continue as head coach and Director of Cricket respectively, despite previous talks of both parting ways with the franchise.

Parthiv, who has represented six franchises, has played a total of 139 games in the cash-rich league, with 2848 runs at a strike rate of 120.78 to his name. After his retirement, he has been working as a broadcaster, commentator and analyst and also served Mumbai as one of their scouts. 

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The Ahmedabad-born cricketer has done a terrific job as a scout of Mumbai and can prove to be effective for the Titans in the upcoming season as well. After winning the championship in their inaugural season in 2022, Gthe Titans went on to qualify for the final in 2023 as well. However, Chennai Super Kings defeated them in the last ball of the game to win their fifth championship.

After their captain Hardik Pandya joined Mumbai in 2024 season, the Gujarat Titans did not look like the same team, as they finished eighth in the 2024 edition under Shubman Gill's leadership. For the same reason, the team management is keen on overhauling the squad and bringing in a new set of players that can help the franchise fight for the title once again. 

Parthiv has tremendous knowledge of domestic cricket which will be valuable for the Titans, particularly in the upcoming mega-auction. However, he has not coached any team previously, so it needs to be seen how well he performs in that role in case he ends up joining Gujarat. 

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As things stand, Gill will be Titans' first retention while it is unclear whether Rashid Khan will continue. The team management is in talks with the Afghanistan spinner as they are eager to retain him.