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Gujarat Titans (GT) head coach Ashish Nehra, director of cricket Vikram Solanki, and the rest of the backroom staff will continue their stint with their franchise amid scrutiny surrounding their futures. With the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) champions' majority stake set to be acquired by Torrent Pharma, an Ahmedabad-based company, a potential change in the coaching staff was anticipated.
According to a report by Cricbuzz, Nehra and company are expected to commit to the rest of their contract. The former India player signed a three-year extension after guiding GT to the title in their maiden season in 2022.
The early success saw Nehra become one of the highest-paid coaches in the league, with the annual fee estimated to be close to INR 8 crore.
"The Titans board, consisting of key executives from CVC Capital - a global private equity firm - including London-based Nick Clarry, Singapore-based Siddharth Patel, and Mumbai-based Amit Soni, conducted a review and it is believed that the board has decided to continue with the duo (of Nehra and Solanki)," the report read.
Nehra gained admirers after impressing in his first campaign as head coach. He almost replicated his feat after guiding GT to the finals of the 2023 season, losing to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the final hurdle.
Ahead of the 2024 IPL season, the franchise were met with numerous obstacles. Their skipper Hardik Pandya preferred a switch to the Mumbai Indians (MI) while their spearhead Mohammed Shami was also entirely ruled out due to injury.
Nehra had to work together with new skipper Shubman Gill and try to improve their squad with reinforcements at the auction. After two prolific seasons, GT failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time, eventually finishing eighth in the points table.
The former pacer also cut a distant figure when it came to the proceedings during the 2024 season compared to the first couple of editions. Reportedly, his constant intervention was not appreciated by some in the hierarchy, resulting in the drastic change.
Nehra had famously relayed a message to Mohit Sharma during the final over of the 2023 final. The right-arm pacer lost his momentum following that, leaking two boundaries in a row to lose the match, and several blamed Nehra for the same.
GT yet to decide on appointing a replacement for Gary Kirsten
The only member absent from the coaching staff that oversaw the 2024 season would be Gary Kirsten. The former South African batter was the batting coach and mentor of the team, but left his role after the 2024 season to take over as Pakistan's white-ball coach.
The management are currently pondering over Kirsten's replacement ahead of the 2025 season. Former India player Yuvraj Singh was heavily linked with the head coach role at GT during the off-season. With Nehra now extending his stay, Yuvraj could be considered as a replacement for Kirsten instead, if the franchise wishes to go in that direction.
