Kochi, India
Defending IPL champions Gujarat Titans had a nice day on the mini-auction table on Friday, December 23rd, having picked some big and promising names. Hardik Pandya-led franchise found success in their first season and now with some interesting additions they are likely to pose further threat to other teams as well. On Friday, December 23rd, Gujarat Titans came with a motive - to add more depth to their already strong-looking squad.
To begin with they first bought the former SunRisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson at the base price of Rs 2 crores. In absence of Manish Pandey now, Williamson could take up the number 3 slot and provide stability and freedom for power-hitters to follow. Gujarat then added West Indian all-rounder Odean Smith to their squad, picking him on the base price (Rs 50 lakhs) as well.
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To strengthen their bowling, GT roped in seamer Shivam Mavi for Rs 6 crores and Ireland's left-arm pacer Joshua Little for Rs 4.4 crores. These two will join the likes of Mohammed Shami, Alzari Joseph, Rashid Khan, Yash Dayal and others. What surprised almost everyone was the selection of former IPL winner with CSK, Mohit Sharma, who was known for his back-of-the-hand deliveries.
Gujarat Titans, who had just one foreign keeper-batsman in Mathew Wade last season didn't shy away from filling that pot as well. Alongside Wriddhiman Saha, GT picked KS Bharat and Urvil Patel. Looking at their picks it clearly indicates Gujarat had come with a clear plan and handpicked what they wanted. Despite having some of the biggest names on their squad, Gujarat still have Rs 4.45 crores left with them as their 33-member squad (25 Indian and 8 foreign players) is all set to defend the title next year.
Here's the updated squad of Gujarat Titans -
Hardik Pandya, 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