Not even considered as favorites to reach the playoffs at the start of the IPL 2022 season, the Gujarat Titans stunned everyone by winning the whole damn thing.
Leading for the first time in his IPL career, Hardik Pandya and his partnership with head coach Ashish Nehra flourished spectacularly last season. GT topped the league stage with 10 wins and just 4 losses, and then proceeded to defeat the Rajasthan Royals both in the Qualifier 1 and the Final.
Three GT batsmen – Gill, Pandya, and Miller – amassed more than 400 runs, and four bowlers – Ferguson, Rashid, Shami, and Dayal – snapped up more than 10 wickets last season, making the team’s strength as others performed their roles effectively around them. The cherry on the cake was that the Titans won the IPL 2022 final in front of their home crowd, in Ahmedabad.
With success in their debut IPL season, the Titans have expectedly retained most of their players ahead of the IPL 2023 auction, and released only 6 players, out of which only 1 – fast bowler Lockie Ferguson – was a regular part of their XI.
Gujarat Titans (GT) released players: Lockie Ferguson (traded), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (traded), Jason Roy, Dominic Drakes, Gurkeerat Singh, Varun Aaron
Here is the Gujarat Titans (GT) best XI among the retained players:
The Gujarat Titans have retained 10 of the 11 players that featured in the IPL 2022 final vs Rajasthan. Only Ferguson is being traded away to KKR of the XI that won the final. West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, who was benched in the final after picking 7 wickets in 9 matches, comes into this XI of retained players.
Left-arm orthodox spinner R Sai Kishore featured in the final vs RR and also picked a couple of wickets. He could start in the first match in IPL 2023 if the Titans feel of having an extra spinner apart from Rashid Khan and Tewatia. Jayant Yadav is their off-spinning option and would be used when they come up against a batting line-up with a number of left-handers.
The Titans will have a question mark over one batting position, for which they have number of contendors. Matthew Wade, Vijay Shankar, Sai Sudharshan, and Abhinav Manohar are challengers for one middle-order spot. Wade played in the final, but it could be young Sudharshan or Manohar, both of whom impressed very much last season, who could get the nod this time.
If the 38-year-old Wriddhiman Saha doesn’t have a good start to his IPL 2023 season, then Wade could come in for him as he has plenty of experience of opening the innings for his Hobart Hurricanes side in the BBL.
Apart from Joseph, GT are stocked in the pace department with Shami, Yash Dayal, and Pradeep Sangwan, along with Darshan Nalkande, who has done well in this domestic season.
Gujarat Titans (GT) best XI of retained players:
Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), B Sai Sudarsan/Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal.
Gujarat Titans (GT) retained squad players:
Hardik Pandya (c), Noor Ahmad, Yash Dayal, Shubman Gill, Alzarri Joseph, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Darshan Nalkande, Wriddhiman Saha, Pradeep Sangwan, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, Matthew Wade, Jayant Yadav
