Chennai; News Agency: Last season's runners-up Gujarat Titans have many challenges this season. Last year, the Hardik Pandya-led side finished first in the league and reached the finals of the tournament, but Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings pulled off a thrilling last-ball victory in that title fight.
In IPL 2023, Gujarat won 10 matches and lost 4 matches. The team reached the finals for the second year in a row. But, this season the situation is different. Pandya, who led the team to the finals in the last two seasons, is not with the team this time. He has now moved to Mumbai Indians and has become the captain of that team. After his departure, Gujarat Titans appointed Shubman Gill as captain. Now under the leadership of this youngster, can the GT team manage to maintain its successful streak? Fans have noticed this.
Shami's injury will be affected?
Mohammad Shami will not be able to play due to injury. Due to which there are signs that the bowling of Gujarat Titans has weakened. Shami took the most wickets in IPL 2023 with 28 wickets. In the power play, he showed the most number of batsmen with 17. Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade will also miss the opening games due to the Sheffield Shield final. Robin Minz, the uncapped wicketkeeper bought by Titans for Rs 3.60 crore, has been injured in a road accident. It is doubtful whether the youngster, who was bought for Rs 3.6 crore, will play.
Rashid Khan fit
Rashid Khan has recovered from injury. It could be a trump card for GT. He also performed brilliantly by taking eight wickets in the T20I series played against Ireland. He scored at a strike rate of 143 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. He also scored 352 runs with 15 wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Weak bowling in the power play
Bowling in the power play could become a problem for GT. Umesh Yadav scored at an economy of 8.78 last season. Only five bowlers were more expensive than him in this regard. Mohit Sharma bowls well in the middle and death overs, while Karthik Tyagi and Darshan Nalkande have T20 economies of 9.19 and 8.08 respectively.
Gill takes the lead for the first time
With Hardik Pandya joining Mumbai, GT has Shubman Gill as its new captain. He was the highest run-scorer last season. He has very little experience as a captain. Gill has previously captained the state team of Punjab in two T20 matches in 2019-20. In this auction, GT bought Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai and Australian fast bowler Spencer Johnson. Meanwhile, Kane Williamson has also returned from injury and can provide stability to GT's top order.
Gujarat Titans Squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Matthew Wade (wicketkeeper), Robin Minze, Sai Sudarshan, David Miller, Shah Rukh Khan, Kane Williamson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Abhinav Manohar, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Spencer Johnson, Josh Little, Noor Ahmed, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Karthik Tyagi, Darshan Nalkande, R Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Sushant Mishra.
