Led by the charismatic and the new ‘captain cool’ skipper Hardik Pandya, the Gujarat Titans entered record books by becoming only the second team to win the IPL title in their debut season in IPL 2022, after Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural IPL season in 2008.
The captain-coach duo of Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra marches the team impressively as the Titans were the only team with 10 wins in the league stage before defeating Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 1 and the final.
The Titans have made a few releases, the most surprising of them is fast bowler Lockie Ferguson. Ferguson and Rahmanullah Gurbaz have been traded to KKR.
Players released by Gujarat Titans: Lockie Ferguson (traded), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (traded), Jason Roy, Dominic Drakes, Gurkeerat Singh, Varun Aaron
The Titans would be pleased with having a sizeable budget of INR 19.25 Crore going into the auction where they’d look to strengthen their squad even further.
Here are 3 players that Gujarat Titans might look to buy in the IPL 2023 mini-auction:
Josh Little
Josh Little made a splash at the T20 World Cup 2022 recently. The left-arm seamer played a crucial part in Ireland’s success in the tournament in Australia – the 22-year-old pacer snapped up 11 wickets in 7 outings at an impressive economy of 7. The highlight of Little’s tournament was dismissing the dangerous England captain Jos Buttler with his swing and seam movement. Little also took a hat-trick against New Zealand, showcasing his smarts when bowling in the death overs.
Having released Ferguson, the Titans might be feeling a little light on death overs, where even the likes of Shami and Joseph and Dayal weren’t as effective. They may turn toward Josh Little of Ireland and include him in their squad as a backup pacer.
Sam Curran
After releasing Ferguson, Dominic Drakes, Gurkeerat Singh, and Varun Aaron, GT would want to fill up the slots with quality overseas pacers and all-rounders. Their sight could turn toward Sam Curran, a hot commodity going into the IPL 2023 auction after being the Player of the Tournament and Player of the Final at the T20 World Cup.
Of Curran’s 13 wickets in the T20 WC, 10 wickets came in the death overs. The 24-year-old also has a great future potential, but the southpaw has already had plenty of experience in international cricket and in the IPL. His inclusion will only bolster GT’s side. Gujarat won’t mind spending a big chunk of their INR 19.25 crore on only one player – a quality overseas all-rounder such as Sam Curran.
Narayan Jagadeesan
While we have talked about Gujarat aiming to strengthen their squad further, they had a slight worry in the middle-order last season, a position that they couldn’t nail down even until the final.
Throughout the season they rotated the likes of Vijay Shankar, Matthew Wade, Sai Sudharsan, and Abhinav Manohar in a middle-order position, and also juggled Hardik Pandya between number 3 and 4. Narayan Jagadeesan could be the answer to that conundrum of the defending champions.
After being released by CSK, Tamil Nadu opener Jagadeesan shattered world records in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023, by becoming the first-ever batsman to score five consecutive List-A centuries, the last of which was a mammoth inning of 277 runs off 141 balls – the highest-ever individual List-A score in men’s cricket.
And to think that Jagadeesan had been with CSK for a low price of INR 20 lakh, but now surely is going to get much more than that. Known for his calm presence in the middle and composed head, Jagadeesan could be the bridge between the Titans’ aggressive openers and the middle order of Pandya, Miller, and Tewatia. Having a reliable Indian batsman at number 3 would also allow the Titans to use an additional overseas pacer or an all-rounder.
