IPL 2022: A Complete Breakdown Of Gujarat Titans' Squad

IPL Mega Auction is the perfect opportunity for teams to build a squad right from scratch and cover every loose end. Gujarat Titans was coming into the Auction for the first time and had a good opportunity to analyze how exactly a T20 team is constructed yet it didn't look like they did that a lot. 

Gujarat began the Auction process by drafting three players - Hardik Pandya(15cr), Rashid Khan(15cr), and Shubman Gill(8cr) - for 38 crores and went into the mega event with 52 crores in the purse. 

At the end of the Auction, Titans was left with 15 lakhs in the purse and 23 players in the squad. Gujarat bought eight uncapped players for 18.7 crores and 12 capped for 33.15 crores. 

Gujarat's most expensive player was Lockie Ferguson for 10 crores and the next highest-paid cricketer was Rahut Tewatia for 9 crores. 

Bits and Pieces 

Gujarat Titans' draft players were pretty decent ones. Having Rashid Khan in the team is always an advantage. Even though Hardik Pandya isn't fully fit, his batting skills can alone do the job for the team. Shubman Gill hasn't proved himself yet in the T20 format but surely is the one for the future. 

Gujarat bought Jason Roy for 2 crores which was an absolute steal given his aggressive batting and consistency. However, since Roy took his name back from this season's IPL, Titans had a massive blow. The batting which was already looking dim got dimmer. 

But one thing that Gujarat did well was to get Rahmunullah Gurbaz as a replacement for Jason Roy. Gurbaz is one of the most devastating opening batters currently. He is a dynamic batter which means GT has now got a good spin and pace hitter up the order.

For the most part of the Auction, Gujarat didn't buy any wicketkeeper and in the end, Titans ended up with Wriddhiman Saha and Mathew Wade(backup). Gurbaz's inclusion in the squad means yet another wicketkeeping option opens for them. Although Saha has consistently played IPL, he is an anchor-based batter which Gujarat already had in the form of Gill and Vijay Shankar at five. 

Titans got David Miller, who is likely to come at number five but his consistency is questionable. Pandya follows Miller and then Rahul Tewatia, who had a terrific IPL 2020 but in the 2021 season, he was pretty average with both bat as well as the ball. Rashid provides good safety at the backend of the innings and a shield preventing tailenders. 

Gujarat paid 10 crores for an all-phase bowler Lockie Ferguson - a decent buy. Mohammad Shami is a powerplay specialist. Titans' lack of variety in the pace bowling setup is a concern. Gujarat bought Yash Dayal - a left-arm pacer - for 3.2 crores and are likely to start with him despite no prior experience. 

In terms of backups, R Sai Kishore is an exciting talent who could be useful on favorable pitches. The pace bowling backups are decent as well - Varun Aaron, Pradeep Sangwan, Dominic Drakes, and Alzarri Joseph. 

Gujarat Titans is a bits and pieces side that reminds us of SRH of the last two seasons - where everything is decent but it just doesn't feel right. The depth is shallow and most players are untested and inexperienced. Maybe Gujarat is just testing waters in this season and will finally dive deep from the next when the squad finally opens up. 

Also Read: IPL 2022 Auction Overview List Of All Players & Teams

Gujarat IPL 2022 Squad - Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Pandya, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Yash Dayal, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Darshan Nalkande, R Sai Kishore, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Matthew Wade, Gurkeerat Singh, B Sai Sudharshan