Gujarat Titans team 2023: Gujarat will arrive at the IPL 2023 auction with a budget of INR 19.25 crore. They can buy up to seven cricketers, of whom at most three can be overseas.

Almost throughout the 2022 edition, their maiden appearance in the IPL, Gujarat went in with one batter short, making Rahul Tewatia bat at six and Rashid Khan at seven, one slot above their usual Twenty20 batting positions. In case of an early collapse, Hardik Pandya abandoned his characteristic aggressive batting self to drop anchor, playing deep into the innings.

Ahead of this season’s auctions, they traded Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Lockie Ferguson with the Kolkata Knight Riders, and released Jason Roy, Dominic Drakes, Gurkeerat Singh, and Varun Aaron.

Gujarat Titans team 2023

Strengths

Gujarat have back-ups for virtually every role. Despite releasing Ferguson, they boast a strong pace attack, consisting of Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Pandya, Yash Dayal, and Pradeep Sangwan. Rashid is backed up by – depending on match-ups – R Sai Kishore and Jayant Yadav. Tewatia, who bowled a mere six overs in IPL 2022, is another backup.

Similarly, releasing Roy and Gurbaz still leaves them with the Wriddhiman Saha-Shubman Gill pair, followed by Pandya, David Miller, the underused Abhinav Manohar, and – as backup – Matthew Wade. Even for Pandya, they can bring in Vijay Shankar. Gujarat have one of the strongest reserve benches of the 2023 edition already.

Weaknesses

By playing the extra bowler, the Titans top order may be forced to slow down. While there is little doubt over Pandya’s ability to adapt to a defensive role, he is perhaps best utilised as a hitter. That will require them to go for another batter. Vijay Shankar, who, while a like-for-like replacement, is not an equivalent of Pandya.

While they do have reserve spinners, they do not have an equivalent of Rashid – not simply the all-time-great Twenty20 bowler but also the No.7 hitter they can trust despite their long tail.

Likely buys

Since they need another hitter, their budget (INR 19.25 crore) will allow them to fight for Cam Green, Phil Salt, and Rilee Rossouw. They will probably focus more on Green, given his all-round abilities.

Expect them to go for Mohammad Nabi or Shakib Al Hasan as well, either of whom will make a superb spin duo with Rashid. If the team combination does not work out, they will be ready as replacements for any role – bat anywhere between four or seven and bowl four overs, or even as an emergency replacement for Rashid Khan.

For Ferguson’s replacement, they may go for George Garton or Adam Milne (Tymal Mills is prone to injuries, while Lance Morris concedes nearly 10 an over). With another Indian wicketkeeper in the mix, they will be set to go. At only 18, the hard-hitting Dinesh Bana is the best bet.

Gujarat Titans squad (overseas cricketers underlined)

Hardik Pandya (c), Mohammed Shami, Wriddhiman Saha, Rashid Khan, David Miller, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tewatia, Abhinav Manohar, Alzarri Joseph, B Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, Matthew Wade, Noor Ahmad, Pradeep Sangwan, R Sai Kishore, Vijay Shankar, Yash Dayal.

Purse for Gujarat Titans team, 2023: INR 19.25 crore. Slots remaining: Seven (three overseas)