Gujarat Titans have wisely decided to keep the majority of their players and tactics after winning the championship in their debut season in IPL 2022 under Hardik Pandya’s direction.
Kane Williamson, Shivam Mavi, Odean Smith, and Joshua Little are their top buys in the IPL 2023 auction. Their other buys were veteran pacer Mohit Sharma and keeper KS Bharat.
Retained GT Players: Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad.
GT Full Squad for IPL 2023: Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Kane Williamson, Odean Smith, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma.
GT best playing XI: Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, David Miller, Hardik Pandya (c), Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Shivam Mavi, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma.
Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill will make his IPL debut for Gujarat in 2023. However, the Punjab opener was released by KKR ahead of the 2022 TATA IPL Auction. Gujarat Titans pounced on this opportunity to sign him, and he performed admirably for them, scoring 483 runs in 16 IPL 2022 matches at an average of 34.5 and a strike rate of 132.33. Shubman Gill scored 440 and 483 runs for KKR in the IPL 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Wriddhiman Saha
If Matthew Wade is benched, Wriddhiman Saha, an ex-Bengal and ex-KKR keeper, will open with Shubman Gill in IPL 2023. He had 317 runs in IPL 2022, averaging 31.7 in 11 games and hitting three fifties at a strike rate of 122.39.
Kane Williamson
SunRisers Hyderabad released Kane Williamson prior to the IPL 2023 auctions. The former New Zealand and SRH captain had scored 216 runs at 19.64 at a below-par strike rate of 93.51 in 13 IPL games with only 1 fifty, and his poor form led to SRH not retaining him in IPL 2023.
Gujarat Titans paid INR 2 crores for him. The winning team in 2022 was the only one to make a bid for the New Zealand player. Sunrisers Hyderabad released Kane Williamson just one season after signing him for INR 14 crores in IPL 2022.
David Miller
David Miller, the Proteas’ big hitting batter, scored 481 runs in IPL 2022, averaging 68.71 at a strike rate of 142.73 with 2 fifties, and played important role in Gujarat Titans’ victory. This was his best season in terms of runs scored and average since 2012.
Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya, the Gujarat Titans captain, had a memorable IPL 2022 season for the new franchise. He scored 487 runs in 15 IPL 2022 games, averaging 44.27 at a strike rate of 131.27 and hitting 4 fifties, while also taking 8 scalps at a rate of 27.75. The right-arm seamer saved his best for last, bowling a powerful spell of 3 for 17 in 4 overs in the final.
Hardik Pandya scored 487 runs in IPL 2022 at an average of 44.27 and a strike rate of 131.27. He also picked eight wickets at an economy rate of 7.28. Taking extra responsibility on the batting front at No. 3-4, Hardik Pandya topped the runs chart for Gujarat Titans.
Rahul Tewatia
Rahul Tewatia, an all-rounder and hard-hitting finisher, was signed by the Gujarat Titans for INR 9 crore at the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. He scored 217 runs at a strike rate of 147.62 in 16 IPL 2022 games but did not pick up a wicket.
Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan leg spinner, could be the Gujarat Titans’ lone specialist spinner in IPL 2023. Rashid Khan, arguably the best leg-spinner in white ball cricket, was drafted into the Gujarat Titans squad ahead of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction for INR 15 crore. In IPL 2022, he scored 91 runs at 22.75 at a strike rate of 206.82 while also picking 19 scalps in 16 games at 22.16 with a career-best of 4/24 at an economy of 6.6.
Mohammed Shami
At the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, Gujarat Titans paid INR 6.25 crore for veteran Indian pacer Mohammed Shami. He took 20 wickets in 16 IPL games, averaging 24.4 and an economy rate of 8 per over. In 93 IPL games, he has 99 scalps.
Shivam Mavi
Along with Yash Dayal, Shivam Mavi will compete for a spot in the GT playing XI in the IPL 2023. Shivam Mavi underperformed for KKR in IPL 2022, taking 5 wickets in 6 games with an average of 45.4 and an economy of 10.32. He was released by KKR prior to the IPL 2023 season, and GT purchased him for INR 6 crore.
At the IPL 2022 auction, the Gujarat-based franchise paid INR 3.20 crore for left-arm pacer Yash Dayal. In the most recent edition, he appeared in nine games for the franchise and took 11 wickets. Yash Dayal, the Gujarat Titans’ pacer, had 11 scalps in 9 IPL 2022 games at a strike rate of 26.91, including a career-best 3/40 against Rajasthan in his debut game.
Joshua Little
Joshua Little, Ireland’s pacer, has yet to play in the IPL. Joshua Little, an Irish left-arm pacer, expressed his enthusiasm for joining the Gujarat Titans team at the IPL 2023 mini-auction and working with Ashish Nehra and Hardik Pandya.
The defending champion Gujarat Titans paid INR 4.4 crores for the 23-year-old during a one-day auction in Kochi on Friday, making him the first player from Ireland to sign an IPL contract.
Mohit Sharma
Mohit Sharma has taken 92 wickets at an average of 26.85 in 86 IPL games. He last appeared in the IPL in 2020. Mohit Sharma, one of the most prolific seamers who won the Purple Cap in 2014, has been signed as a net bowler for the IPL 2022 season by Gujarat Titans, the new IPL franchise, alongside left-arm seamer Barinder Sran.
However, the veteran pacer and experienced international bowler made an astonishing comeback for the upcoming season, signing a deal with GT for IPL 2023 worth INR 50 lakhs. Another option is to use Pradeep Sangwan, who was acquired by the Gujarat Titans for INR 20 lakhs in the IPL 2022 auctions and picked up three scalps in three games, averaging 21.67.