Gujarat Titans hit the ground running in the IPL, having won the title in the first year and missing it by a whisker in the second season. It was a commanding start to their arrival in the IPL and the big question that faces the team is - was the early success because of Hardik Pandya's leadership or the side's collective character, under the coaching team of Ashish Nehra.
With Pandya now gone, it will be a test of the coaching skills of Ashish Nehra, whose informal and friendly style of managing the side got a lot of applause. An even bigger test will be the captaincy of Shubman Gill. The young India batter earned plaudits for his batting skills but how will he be a captain. It is not only the Titans management who will be looking for the answer but also the Indian cricketers and the BCCI will want to know this. After all, Gill is largely considered a future India captain, and his success or failure will have ramifications far beyond Ahmedabad.
Where they've finished in this cycle: 2022:Champions; 2023: Runners-up
Key additions:Spencer Johnson, Shahrukh Khan, Umesh Yadav, Kartik Tyagi and Azmatullah Omarzai
Key Subtractions:Hardik Pandya (one-way transfer), Mohammed Shami (injured), Shivam Mavi, Alzarri Joseph and Odean Smith
Full Squad:
Shubman Gill (captain), David Miller, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Robin Minz, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Mandhar, B Sai Sudarshan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Shahrukh Khan, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Kartik Tyagi, Shshant Mishra, Spencer Johnson, Noor Ahmad, Sai Kishore, Umesh Yadav, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma and Manav Suthar.
One stat from last year they'll want to remedy
Titans seamers picked 23 wickets in Powerplay across the season - the joint most by any team. In nine home games, they picked 16 wickets at 22.50 while in eight away matches they captured only seven scalps at 47.00.
Injuries and availability:
Mohammed Shami will be the major miss of the season for GT. Another absentee will be Matthew Wade, the Australian keeper-batsman who will be participating in the Sheffield Shield final for Tasmania from March 21 to 25. Of course, the team will miss the services of Hardik Pandya, who has moved to Mumbai Indians.
Possible XI and potential Impact Player tactic:
Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, Sai Sudarshan, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Noor Ahmad.
Kane Williamson can come as a replacement for Noor Ahmad or Mohit Sharma
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