Despite the loss, Gujarat Titans believe in #NehraMaths

Rahul Tewatia has been part of each of Gujarat Titans' (GT) 51 matches in the IPL so far. He is one of only three to do that. The others are Shubman Gill and Rashid Khan. Tewatia has scored only 522 runs in 348 balls. He has bowled only 8.1 overs. He is still chosen over someone like Glenn Phillips - his injury has now ruled him out - even though GT have been playing only three overseas players. Tewatia is only one example of #NehraMaths.

Ashish Nehra has built the GT team in a manner that is not, well, cool. Or T20-ish for the time we are in. Since their debut, GT have been the fourth-slowest-scoring team in the IPL. They are not even the stingiest with the ball. That crown goes to Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

We know roughly three in four T20 matches are won by sides that score more runs in boundaries. Even KL Rahul is on our side now, y'all. GT, though, have scored the lowest percentage of their runs in boundaries among all IPL teams, 60.28% to Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) 68.76 at the top. Even this IPL season, GT sit at 64.95% (the third-lowest) to Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) 72.38% at the top. GT have also hit the lowest number of sixes in the IPL since their debut.

All this doesn't matter to #NehraMaths. What matters is that they have won a title, came within one good ball of defending the title despite wretched luck in that match, and their win-loss ratio of 1.684 is comfortably the best among all IPL teams since their debut.

Clearly, GT know what they are doing. They have built bowling attacks that let their batters get away with par scores and taking fewer risks than other teams. Bowlers tend to respond to Nehra's hands-on methods. He practically runs the game from the sidelines, like a football manager. Generally, their game is built on making the fewest mistakes, which occur more often when you attempt the spectacular.

MS Dhoni can sometimes get undue credit for things he might not have anything to do with, but there is a similarity between GT's and CSK's methods when they have been at their best. Even India's, when they used to make the semi-finals of world events, though they upgraded under Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. GT don't aim for a high ceiling, which also makes their floor is higher than that of most others.

The one problem with playing this way is that you have to be extremely vigilant so as to not be left behind by evolution. Even then there can be days when you come up against a high-risk team that gets the better of you. Especially when you are batting first.

This defeat to LSG is the perfect example. Gill and B Sai Sudharsan seemed to be batting effortlessly. They played just three false shots in the powerplay. LSG mis-hit nine in the same period. It is high skill to bat at 10 an over and make it look effortless. But sometimes you need 11 an over with some more risks to maximise the 20 overs.

Even though it looked like GT were going great, LSG had outscored GT by 14 runs by the end of the 11th over. After this, with the ball getting soft and holding in the surface, both sides struggled equally. LSG scored 63 for 3 in 51 balls, GT 71 for 5 in 54 balls. But LSG's had out-boundaried GT by just the 13th over. Nicholas Pooran alone hit four more sixes than the whole GT side.

The batting conditions might have improved with the dew, but that is the harsh truth of T20 cricket. That is why sides seek to aim for above-par totals for the conditions that exist when they are batting. GT perhaps believe it is undue risk to cover for contingencies that might or might not eventuate.

ESPNcricinfo's Shiva Jayaraman has illustrated these kinds of games with numbers. In the last two seasons, in the games with totals ranging from 170 to 210, teams attacking fewer than 40% of balls have won nine and lost 12 matches. Teams attacking more than 40% of balls have won 14 and lost seven. In this game, GT attacked just 35% of the balls they faced.

These are the teams you look forward to for their response to a defeat. Gill's interview with the broadcasters was instructive. He bemoaned the inefficient rotation of strike when the ball started gripping, not being out-hit. So don't expect GT to hit the panic button and move away from their philosophy. They have #NehraMaths to back it up.