The former RCB coach shared his thoughts on Gujarat Titans pace trio ahead of IPL 2025.
Former New Zealand and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Mike Hesson believes that there are hardly any differences between the Gujarat Titans (GT) pace trio of Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada and Prasidh Krishna. Hesson believes that it could be a disadvantage for the former champions as they don’t have someone experienced to add variations.
Gujarat Titans acquired all three pacers during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, after having released Mohammed Shami prior to the two-day event. While Siraj was acquired for INR 12.25 crores, the Titans secured Rabada’s services for INR 10.75 crores. Prasidh Krishna was acquired for INR 9.50 crores.
“I think if you look at these three seamers here, they’re very much the same. You know, they’re all tall, they all get good bounce, they all present the seam, they all swing the ball the same way. So, they’re all kind of similar. And in terms of changeups, you know, they pretty much all just bowl the same off cutter,” Hesson said while previewing Gujarat Titans on his YouTube channel.
Hesson also gave the idea of playing left-arm seamer Arshad Khan to add variation. The all-rounder has played 10 IPL matches across 2023 and 2024 but has taken just six wickets. He was acquired for INR 1.30 crores at the IPL 2025 auction.
“There’s no real knuckle balls, or, you know, back of the hand, or slot changeups, which I think, you know, it’ll be really interesting to see whether Ashish Nehra looks and goes, hey, I actually need to get a left arm quick (Arshad Khan) in that, just to give it a little bit of variation,” added the 50-year-old.
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“I think if you get on a surface where the ball seams, that is a great three seamers. If you get on a flat one, and you need some variation, I think they will need to change that line up to get a little bit more variation into it,” he explained.
Gujarat Titans, led by Shubman Gill, will host Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their season opener at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on March 25. GT finished in eighth place in IPL 2024, making it the first time in their short history that they failed to qualify for the playoffs. Under Hardik Pandya, Gujarat Titans won IPL 2022 in their debut season, and reached the final of IPL 2023 where they lost to Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
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