Indian Premier League, popularly known as IPL, has aged more than a decade now, and we have seen multiple highs and lows of the tournament. The league’s reach beyond the Indian boundary has only made the tournament way bigger, enabling the board to extend it to a 10-teams tournament from the next season.
The two new teams Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Titans, have made their drafting before picking up their complete squad in the mega IPL auction that happened for two long days in February. With the teams all set up with their full squads, it is time for the internet world to pour on their predictions for the upcoming season, which might mean a huge boost for popular fantasy gaming apps and online betting sites in India.
Gujarat Titans, before the auction, drafted three players – Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, and Rashid Khan to their side. So, here in an opinion piece, we decided to point out three key players picked by the Gujarat Titans side in the recently concluded IPL auction.
Jason Roy
The firing English opener is what the Gujarat Titans wanted once they drafted the three players, including two Indian batsmen and an overseas spinner. Jason Roy could fit right into their Playing XI, opening against Shubman Gill.
Roy’s fearless brand of cricket can give any side the start they wish to have. If the English opener can manage to add consistency to his bravery in the upcoming season, there is no doubt the team will benefit hugely from the opener. Another high point in this picking is GT picking Roy at his base price in the auction.
Mohammed Shami
This is another ‘tick on the box’ kind of picking for Gujarat Titans. The Indian fast bowler will provide the much-needed punch from the front in both powerplay and death overs. His ability to fire yorkers in the end and throw good lengths constantly will be an asset for any side.
Shami has been an excellent player for his previous teams so far. His outings with the Punjab Kings were always note-worthy. He managed to pick 19, 20, & 19 wickets in the last three seasons, respectively, at his best economy rate of around 8, rightly earning him the purse of 6.25 Crores.
Dominic Drakes
The overseas all-rounder is another vital category any IPL team would love to have. Especially with the uncertainty of their Captain Hardik’s all-round ability in the upcoming season, Gujarat Titans managing to acquire the West Indies all-rounder was much needed. It is also good that they could pick him at a price near his base price of 75 Lakhs. Drakes was picked up at 1.1 Crore by GT.
If you don’t know about Dominic Drakes, you should look at this scorecard of the Caribbean Premier League final last year. Walking into bat at No.6, when the scoreboard reading 75 for 4 while chasing 160, Drakes single-handedly managed to help his team earn the championship badge. When nine runs were needed in the last over, Drakes perfectly managed to keep his nerves to reach the winning run.
