Three players who Gujarat Titans (GT) might release ahead of IPL 2023

Hardik Pandya led the Gujarat Titans well in the IPL 2022 with elan.

Gujarat Titans (GT) led by Hardik Pandya ended up winning the IPL 2022 crown in what can be seen as a dominating performance throughout the tournament. They won 10 matches in the league stage, becoming the first team to qualify for the playoffs and winning Qualifier 1 to make it into the finals.

Before the IPL 2022 auction, GT had drafted Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, and Rashid Khan from the list of the players released.

In the auction, they had brought Mohammad Shami for INR 6.25 crs, Lockie Ferguson for INR 10 crs, Rahul Tewatia for INR 9 crs, and David Miller for INR 3 crs amongst other buys. It wasn’t until the second day of the auction, that GT opted to buy a wicketkeeper and then bought two in Matthew Wade and Wriddhiman Saha.

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In the tournament, the likes of Rahul Tewatia, David Miller, and Shubman Gill performed extremely well with the bat, while Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, Lockie Ferguson, and Yash Dayal did the same with the ball.

However, the best performer for the new franchise was captain Hardik Pandya who led them from the front scoring 481 runs and picking 8 wickets, and impressed one and all with his captaincy.

But after the high of the victory subsides, GT will get down to plan for the next year and there will be some players who might not be retained for the IPL 2023 and we have plucked three such candidates.

Team COC picks three players from Gujarat Titans (GT) who might be released before IPL 2023.

JASON ROY

Jason Roy was picked for the IPL 2022 at his base price of INR 2 crores in the auction and GT had much hope from the devastating England opener for the IPL 15 edition. However, Roy decided to opt-out of the tournament citing bubble fatigue as he was coming from playing in Pakistan Super League (PSL 2022).

His withdrawal ahead of IPL 2022 was the second such instance, with the first time being in the 2020 edition due to personal reasons after being picked up by the Delhi Capitals for INR 1.5 crore.

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GT brought in Rahmanullah Gurbaz as his replacement, who is also a keeper and might come in handy for the next IPL tournament in 2023. It would be better for him as well, as Gurbaz didn’t get a chance to play in the tournament.

VIJAY SHANKAR

Vijay Shankar played in 4 matches in IPL 2022 and made 19 runs with a best of 13 and didn’t pick any wickets with the ball. Shankar, who was bought by GT for INR 1.4 crs, also suffered an injury and was out of a few matches in the middle part of the tournament.

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With him not bringing much to the table with either the bat, as his strike rate has been abysmal for the last few IPL editions- 126 in IPL 2019, 101.04 in IPL 2020, and 111.53 in IPL 2021; it can be safely assumed that GT will look to bring in some young all-rounder who can hit the big shots when needed and give them a couple of overs and wickets with the ball.

MATTHEW WADE

Matthew Wade might have won the IPL 2022 with Gujarat Titans, but his performance was criticized as he failed to play any significant knock despite being backed to the hilt.

He was preferred over Wriddhiman Saha at the start of the IPL 2022 where he kept wickets and opened the innings. But his poor performance led to him being dropped from the side.

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Later he was brought back, but Saha had taken over the opening and keeping duties with success and Wade batted at no.3. But he disappointed with 157 runs in 10 matches with a best of 35 at a strike rate of 113.76.

It would be better if GT release Wade and give young Gurbaz more time to develop under the guidance of Wriddhiman Saha in the future.