Ambati Rayudu Questions Shahrukh Khan After GT Loss, Says ‘Time to Take a Call’

Ambati Rayudu questioned Shahrukh Khan’s role after GT’s IPL 2026 loss to PBKS, highlighting his ₹4 crore retention and lack of impact.

Ambati Rayudu reviewed the Gujarat Titans’ team structure after their IPL 2026 loss to the Punjab Kings on March 31 in Mullanpur. Gujarat posted 162/6 in 20 overs but fell short as Punjab secured a 3-wicket win with 5 balls remaining. Cooper Connolly impressed on debut with an unbeaten fifty to guide the chase.

Rayudu assessed Shah Rukh Khan’s role in the middle order. The batter arrived at No. 6 with 4.2 overs left but scored only 4 off 6 balls before falling to Vijaykumar Vyshak. Rayudu pointed to a lack of consistent impact over multiple seasons. He suggested the Gujarat Titans may soon review their strategy if performances do not match expectations.

“It’s been quite a few seasons where there is a lot of talk of promise, but there is not much delivery there. He really owes it to GT because they’ve really banked on him to finish games. So they’ll have to take a call on him soon. The yardstick should be – Has he improved from last year? Has he brought in something better? If that’s not the case, then they have to take a call,” Rayudu said to ESPNcricinfo.

READ ALSO | Shreyas Iyer Fined Rs 12 Lakh for Slow Over-Rate in PBKS vs GT IPL 2026 Clash

Ambati Rayudu then proposed tactical changes to improve the Gujarat Titans’ balance. He advised dropping one of Ashok Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, or Prasidh Krishna. He felt Prasidh should stay due to his current form, leaving Siraj or Ashok as options.

Rayudu also suggested replacing Kagiso Rabada with Jason Holder to strengthen batting depth. He believes this move would address middle-order concerns. He further recommended adding Tom Banton if the team preferred extra batting over bowling. In that setup, Banton could support the middle overs.

“You need to take a hard call and drop one of Ashok Sharma, Siraj or Prasidh Krishna. But now you can’t drop Prasidh because of the way he is bowling. So it has to be between Siraj and Ashok. You can’t play both of them. Or drop Rabada and get Holder, which will also solve the batting issue. And Prasidh definitely has to bowl one over in the first ten and possibly in the first six,” said Rayudu.

“Tom Banton can come in for the middle overs. If not Holder, and they think they have enough bowling, they can get Banton in for Rabada. You need a proper batter. Apart from the top three and Glenn Phillips, you need one more and five overall quality batters in any side. You need five batters capable of playing spin and pace equally well,” he concluded.