First trophy in the first season and last ball miss for the second trophy last year. New captain, injury concerns and lot of good options, will Shubman Gill #AavaaDe this time?
Gujarat Titans had a good auction in the mini auction for the 17th edition. After leaving Hardik Pandya for a cash trade, GT had to strengthen their squad. They bought some very good players in the auction like Umesh Yadav, Spencer Johnson, Kartik Tyagi, Azmatullah Omarzai, and others. In fact, Afghanistan's Omarzai almost acts like a like-to-like replacement of Hardik.
For their third season in the IPL, Gujarat named Shubman Gill as the skipper. A huge blow appeared in the form of the injury of Mohammed Shami, the purple cap winner of the IPL 2023. The star bowler got ruled out of the entire IPL. GT also has concerns over the fitness of Rashid Khan who has not been in action since the ODI World Cup 2023. Hence, they have big decisions to make in the IPL 2024.
Considering all the players to be fit, here is the starting XI of GT for IPL 2024.
Gujarat Titans’ starting XI with impact player:
Shubman Gill (C)
Wriddhiman Saha (WK)
Sai Sudarshan
Kane Williamson
David Miller
Abhinav Manohar
Rahul Tewatia
Rashid Khan
Umesh Yadav
Spencer Johnson
Mohit Sharma
Impact player: R Sai Kishore
On paper, it seems to be a good team. They have the top three batters who played for them last season. Gill has not had a good time in T20 cricket since he last played the IPL. Saha is closing on getting close to being aged around 40. With time, his form has been a question. Sai Sudarshan seems to be a great find by GT. The youngster has been in good touch in the last few months.
Though there are concerns over the form of the players, given the success of the trio in the last two seasons, it does seem to be a good top order. In the middle order, GT has a lot of options. In the starting XI, they might go with experienced batters like Kane Williamson and David Miller at numbers 4 and 5 respectively. The duo have the ability to bat aggressively in the latter part of the innings. If either of them do not click, GT can get Omarzai in the XI.
In addition to it, they have two Indian batters to finish the innings. Abhinav Manohar and Rahul Tewatia are likely to bat at 6 and 7 respectively. The two batters have proved themselves of their abilities to finish the innings in the last two seasons. If required, Tewatia can step up with the ball as well. If either of them fails to perform, GT can get M Shah Rukh Khan in the XI.
GT is likely to have a pace dominant bowling lineup. Given the nature of the wickets in Ahmedabad, GT is likely to start with the pace attack of Umesh Yadav, Spencer Johnson, and Mohit Sharma with the sole spinner in Rashid Khan. While Umesh is likely to take the new ball with Spencer, Rashid and Mohit are likely to operate in the middle overs. Johnson might return to the death overs to operate along with Mohit.
If either Umesh or Mohit could not perform, GT has the backup in Kartik Tyagi. GT also has Joshua Little as the backup for Johnson. They also have some talented players like R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, and several others in the squad. Among them, Sai Kishore might be used as an impact player. He could come in the bowling innings and deliver crucial overs in the middle overs phase.
They seem to have a good team on paper. Everything depends on the performance of the players.
Gujarat Titans’ updated squad for IPL 2024-
Shubman Gill (C), Robin Minz, David Miller, Sai Sudarshan, Wridhhiman Saha (WK), M Shahrukh Khan, Kane Williamson, Matthew Wade, Abhinav Manohar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Manav Suthar, Kartik Tyagi, Spencer Johnson, Noor Ahmad, Darshan Nalkande, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, R Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Sushant Mishra, and Umesh Yadav.
