IPL 2023 Auction: The Gujarat Titans made a grand debut in the IPL: by winning the whole damn thing. Titans became only the second team – after RR in 2008 – to win the IPL in their debut season.
Led by Hardik Pandya, who was captaining for the first time in the IPL, GT finished top of the points table and were dominant in the playoffs to clinch the IPL 2022 trophy.
Despite the immense success with a well-rounded squad, the Gujarat Titans have areas where they can strengthen their squad further in the auction, for which they need to make some space in the purse by releasing a few renowned players.
Here are 3 big-name stars who Gujarat Titans might release ahead of the IPL 2023 auction:
Jason Roy
Jason Roy was one of the marquee players that Gujarat Titans brought early in the auction for a handsome price of 2 crore. However, the England opener didn’t turn up for the season, citing bio-bubble fatigue.
Jason Roy has been in so poor form this year that even after a long backing from the England team, he was eventually dropped from the T20 side. He had a terrible Hundred tournament, scoring only 51 runs in 6 innings at a strike rate of 100. The Titans can really invest those 2 crores at an in-form international player.
Vijay Shankar
Brought for 1.4 crore by the Titans, all-rounder Vijay Shankar played in only 4 matches wherein he scored a grand total of 19 runs at a strike rate of 54! The Tamil Nadu player hasn’t been selected in any domestic match either this season.
Shankar’s fall from being one of India’s squad for the 2019 WC to finding it difficult to hit the ball in the IPL 2022 to not finding a place in his state eleven has been quite shocking. Titans should move away from Shankar and release him back in the auction pool.
Varun Aaron
2 matches, 5 overs, 52 runs for 2 wickets – Varun Aaron had a forgettable IPL 2022 with the ball. The 32-year-old seamer hasn’t played any competitive or domestic match after the IPL until now. The Titans have a solid coterie of fast bowlers, and Aaron seems surplus to them at the moment.
