The former Indian cricketer Parthiv Patel will join the Gujarat Titans as their batting mentor for the upcoming IPL 2025 season. Patel will replace Gary Kirsten, the former South Africa international and World Cup-winning coach, who has left the Titans to become Pakistan’s white-ball Head Coach.
This will be a fitting addition for the Titans as Patel represented Gujarat in domestic cricket and led the team to their first Ranji Trophy title in 2016-17 by beating Mumbai.
As reported by the Times of India “Sources close to developments reveal that Patel will join the support staff led by former India cricketer Ashish Nehra.”
Patel, 39, has represented India across all three forms of the game and is the youngest wicketkeeper to play in Tests, having made his debut in 2002.
He has also associated himself with several IPL franchises. He played for Chennai Super Kings from 2008 to 2010 and joined Deccan Chargers in 2011 before finally playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
He was part of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2014 and Mumbai Indians between 2015 and 2017 and RCB once again between 2018 and 2020.
Patel, in December 2020, took the decision to retire from all forms of cricket and joined the MI team as a scout for newly promoted players. Besides being IPL commentator, he also commentates on internationals match as well.
The Gujarat Titans will be aiming to bounce back after a disappointing 2024 IPL season where they failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since their debut finishing eighth on the points table.
Patel hopes that his partnership with Ashish Nehra will provide a perfect mix to mentor young captain Shubman Gill and bring success back to the team. The Titans have some talented players but it remains to be seen who the franchise will retain as the retention deadline approaches.
