IPL 2023 – Gujarat Titans: Released & Retained Players – What should be their Auction Strategy?

The defending IPL champions Gujarat Titans have named their retentions ahead of the IPL 2023 and most of the core players who were part of the successful maiden IPL outing remain intact with the franchise. The squad led by Hardik Pandya exceeded expectations in 2022 and was crowned the champions in their very first season. So one would expect them to make as few changes to their personal.

What happened?

Gujarat team opted to have almost the same team heading to the next edition. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the dashing Afghan opener who didn’t get a single game last year has been traded to Kolkata Knight Riders for the upcoming edition. Likewise, pacer Lockie Ferguson is also headed to the KKR team.

The Kiwi speedster played 13 games for GT last season picking 12 wickets at an ER of 8.96. So it is really surprising that he has been let by the franchise. The other recognisable player who was released was the out-of-favor England opener Jason Roy who opted out of the league last time around.

Retained Players – Gujarat Titans

Hardik Pandya (Captain), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Abhinav Manohar, Vijay Shankar

Released Players – Gujarat Titans

Jason Roy, Varun Aaron, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Lockie Ferguson, Dominic Drakes, Gurkeerat Singh

Who will they target in the upcoming Auction?

Purse remaining going into the auctions: INR 19.25 crore

Players got through trade from other teams: 0

Overseas slots remaining to be filled: 3

They have 3 overseas slots yet to be filled at the auctions and have over 19 crores left with them as purse money. A quality overseas batsman, an all-rounder, and a pacer could be on the agenda for the team going into the auctions. With a largely settled squad, the Gujarat Titans is on the track to make it 2 on 2 in the IPL.

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