Parthiv Patel to join Gujarat Titans coaching team

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel is all set to take on a new role as part of the coaching staff for the Gujarat Titans. According to sources at ESPNcricinfo, Parthiv will be appointed as the assistant coach under the leadership of Ashish Nehra. Additionally, he will also be responsible for scouting talented players for the team.

This is the first coaching role in the IPL for Parthiv, who retired in 2020. Immediately after that he was a talent scout for Mumbai Indians for three seasons until 2023, and also the batting coach for MI Emirates in 2023, the inaugural season of ILT20. Incidentally, Parthiv is the second former India wicketkeeper, after Dinesh Karthik at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, to join an IPL team's coaching staff ahead of the 2025 season.

Parthiv, 39, played for six IPL franchises between 2008 and 2019, winning the title three times: in 2010 with Chennai Super Kings and twice with Mumbai in 2015 and 2017. In 139 matches, Parthiv, scored 2848 runs primarily as an opener at a strike rate of 120-plus.

At Titans, who finished seventh in 2024 after winning the title in 2022 and were runners-up in 2023, Parthiv will play a key role in the think tank which includes Nehra (head coach), Vikram Solanki (director of cricket) and Aashish Kapoor (assistant coach). Former South Africa batter Gary Kirsten, who shared the coaching duties with Nehra at Titans between 2022-24, left after IPL 2024 to take over as Pakistan's white-ball coach.