In TimesofIndia.com Dharamsala: On a pleasant Sunday evening in Dharamsala, Jose Butler He was the first player of Gujarat Titans to walk on the ground. He paused for a moment, looked at the majestic Dholadhar range in the background, and slowly pulled out his phone to photograph the picturesque location.Butler wasn’t the only one soaking in the scenery. Indian players, led by the pair who recently earned their first Test call-up, Gurnoor Brar and Manu Sattar, also stepped out with their phones in hand. Taking it a step further, IPL 2026 Orange Cap holder Sai Sudharsan asked left-arm pacer Kulant Khajrulia over a cup of coffee to record a video of him standing against the Himalayan backdrop.Titans strength and conditioning coach Darren Vanness seemed the most impressed of them all. Like a kid in a candy shop, the Englishman wandered around the grounds, phone in hand, before rounding off the evening with a selfie with his compatriot Butler.It almost felt like a ritual. Players took to the field with their mobile phones instead of their kits, and who could blame them? It’s not every day you get to train in the deep gaze of the snow-capped Himalayas and for most GT players this was their first date with the beauty.
Butler’s unique range hittingJos Buttler was the first player to pad up and into the nets.Interestingly, you rarely see batsmen working on their technique in the IPL nets. It is mostly slam-bang cricket, with players usually focusing on their range hitting.The 35-year-old Buttler, who seems to have rediscovered his rhythm with back-to-back half-centuries in the last two matches, made a special request for the side-arm throwers and spinners. During the 35 minutes he spent in net, the Titans No. 3 faced only a low full toss. Initially, he struggled to generate power against dipping deliveries, but as the session progressed, he began to nail them into the stands.It was a very interesting training session with the coach from Butler. Ashish Nehra Watching the action from behind the net and admiring every neat strike.
Watch out for this titanConnor Esterhuizen, who joined the Titans as an injury replacement for Tom Benton, looked at his best.Titans performance analyst Sandeep Raju called for pacers Prasadh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Arshad Khan and Kulant Khajrulia to have an extended spell against Osterhuizen. Right-arm seamers Parsed and Brar tested them with short-pitched deliveries, while left-arm pacers Arshad and Khajrulia hit outside the pads and off-stump respectively.No one was spared. The 24-year-old pulled, hooked and even played ramp shots against the pace of Parsed and Brar. The shorter they bowled, the faster the ball flew into the stands. Arshad and Khajrulia were also treated with contempt. Whenever Esterhuizen batted, no one felt safe around the net. Cries of “watch out” got louder with every ball he hit.It is highly unlikely that Esterhuizen, who made his T20I debut during South Africa’s tour of New Zealand earlier this year, will get a game for the Titans, with their four overseas spots blocked by Jos Buttler, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada. But the swashbuckling Proteas batsman certainly looks like a rare weapon in the Titans’ armour.
