Gujarat Titans finished as runners-up in last year’s edition of the Indian Premier League with the last ball thriller lost to Chennai Super Kings. They will be without their star captain Hardik Pandya who has been traded to Mumbai Indians.
Shubman Gill has been appointed as the captain for Gujarat Titans this season. They have been dealt a huge blow as star bowler Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the tournament due to an injury.
GT decided to buy Afghanistan all-rounder Azamatullah Omarzai for Rs 50 Lakhs, Umesh Yadav for Rs 5.80 Crore, Shahrukh Khan for 7.40 Crore, Sushant Mishra for Rs 2.20 Crore, Kartik Tyagi for 60 Lakhs, Manav Suthar for Rs 20 Lakhs, Spencer Johnson for 10 Crore and Robin Minz for Rs 3.60 Crore.
Here we look at the SWOT Analysis of the Gujarat Titans Team For IPL 2024:
Strength
Gujarat Titans have top-quality finishers in the form of David Miller and Rahul Tewaita who finished games during the last two seasons. They named hard-hitting Tamil Nadu batter Shahrukh Khan for Rs 7.40 Crore who did reasonably well last season for Punjab Kings. He can clear any boundary with ease and can be an asset in the middle order.
Gujarat Titans will look to Rashid Khan to provide wickets in the middle overs. He will be assisted by his teammate Noor Ahmed who had a decent outing during last year’s IPL. These two Afghanistan spinners can create pressure on the opponent batters with their quality spin bowling.
Weakness
Gujarat Titans will the miss services of Hardik Pandya big time. He contributed big time in both seasons with both bat and ball. They have good quality all-rounders like Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Azamatullah Omarzai, and Rahul Tewaita in their squad, but do not have genuine all-round options who could do the role of both batting and bowling.
Mohammed Shami will be a huge miss for Gujarat Titans this season. He provided early wickets in the first six overs which created pressure on the opponent team.
Opportunities
Gujarat Titans has bought new players including Shahrukh Khan and Spencer Johnson for huge money during the 2024 IPL auction. Former Punjab Kings member Shahrukh Khan will look to make amends as he could not perform with PBKS in the last two seasons of IPL.
Spencer Johnson performed brilliantly for Brisbane Heats in BBL 13 and was bought by Gujarat Titans for Rs 10 Crore. He would be looking to showcase his bowling skills in front of capacity crowds.
Afghanistan all-rounder Azamatullah Omarzai did a superb job in the World Cup 2023 played in India last year. He would be looking to showcase his skills with both bat and ball helping Gujarat Titans perform well.
Threats
Shubman Gill will be captaining the Gujarat Titans side for the first time after Hardik Pandya got traded to Mumbai Indians. Hardik showed his captaincy skills helping Gujarat Titans win the title in their first attempt in 2022 and then helped GT qualify for the finals in 2023.
The question would be whether Shubman Gill would be affected by captaincy on the batting that he displayed during the 2023 IPL.
Expectations
Gujarat Titans has a good-quality team, but it is challenge for them to challenge top teams like Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and others who possess great batting.
Without the likes of Mohammed Shami, the fast bowling looks a little weak. They might not qualify for the playoffs as they would struggle without their key players.
Squads:
David Miller, Shubman Gill (c), Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, B. Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewaita, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, Azamatullah Omarzai, Umesh Yadav, Shahrukh Khan, Sushant Mishra, Kartik Tyagi, Manav Suthar, Spencer Johnson, Robin Minz.
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