Where Gujarat Titans finished in IPL 2023

Runners-up, after losing to Chennai Super Kings in a final that went into a third day because of rain. But they had topped the league table – with ten wins and four defeats – for the second time in their first two IPL seasons.

Titans squad for IPL 2024

Shubman Gill (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Matthew Wade* (wk), Robin Minz, Sai Sudharsan, David Miller*, M Shahrukh Khan, Kane Williamson*, Azmatullah Omarzai*, Rashid Khan*, Manav Suthar, Abhinav Manohar, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Spencer Johnson*, Josh Little*, Noor Ahmad*, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Kartik Tyagi, Darshan Nalkande, R Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Sushant Mishra

*Overseas players

Player availability – Shami out

Titans were dealt a body blow when Mohammed Shami was ruled out of the season because of the ankle injury he suffered during the 2023 ODI World Cup. He was the leading wicket-taker (28) in IPL 2023, providing Titans with breakthroughs in the powerplay (17 wickets, the most in that phase). Sandeep Warrier, the Tamil Nadu fast bowler, was brought in as Shami’s replacement.

Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade will also miss the start of the season to play the Sheffield Shield final for Tasmania. Uncapped wicketkeeper-batter Robin Minz, who Titans bought for INR 3.6 crore, is also a doubtful starter following his bike accident in Ranchi earlier in the month.

What’s new with Titans this year

They’ve got a new captain, Shubman Gill, who will be leading a team for the first time in the IPL. Last year’s highest run-scorer was given the responsibility of leadership after the Titans traded their captain in the first two seasons – Hardik Pandya – to Mumbai Indians. Gill has only two matches worth of T20 captaincy experience – when he led his state side Punjab in 2019-20.

Titans bought Afghanistan allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai and Australia’s left-arm fast bowler Spencer Johnson at the auction. Omarzai can fill the allrounder’s role – a top-six batter who can bowl regularly – much like Hardik did when fully fit. Finisher M Shahrukh Khan and fast bowler Umesh Yadav are also new in their squad and add depth to their roster of Indian players.

Titans had to do without their new signing Kane Williamson last season, after he ruptured his ACL in the opening fixture against CSK. He’s back at full fitness and can provide stability at the top of the order.

The good – Rashid fit in the nick of time

One of Titans’ trump cards, Rashid Khan, finally returned to action during Afghanistan’s recent T20I series against Ireland after a long injury layoff. He picked up eight wickets in the 2-1 win. It was his first series back in action following a surgery for a back injury that he had after the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Other key Titans players have also been in impressive form heading into the IPL. Rahul Tewatia had a productive domestic white-ball season, striking at 143.18 with the bat in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and scoring 352 runs at a strike rate of 131.34 and taking 15 wickets with his legspin in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Since the previous IPL season, Sai Sudharsan made his India debut and scored back-to-back ODI half-centuries in his first two matches in South Africa. R Sai Kishore finished as the leading wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy with 53 wickets to go with his two half-centuries with the bat. Vijay Shankar also was among the runs in the Ranji Trophy and can be expected to take on more responsibility in Hardik’s absence. Shahrukh had a quiet domestic season but has been working on his offspin, with which he picked up 17 wickets in the TNPL.

Among their overseas players, David Miller was the second-highest scorer for Paarl Royals at the SA20 and returns to India where he scored a fifty and a century in the ODI World Cup last year.

The not-so good – Powerplay bowling

Only five bowlers who bowled at least 14 powerplay overs in IPL 2023 had a higher economy rate than Umesh’s 8.78 in the first six overs. Mohit Sharma is more effective in the middle and death, while Kartik Tyagi and Darshan Nalkande have a T20 economy rate of 9.19 and 8.08 respectively.

Schedule insights

Titans are one of the busiest teams in the initial schedule that has been announced, playing five matches in two weeks. Their season opener is against Mumbai Indians in Ahmedabad on March 23. They play three home games and a game in Chennai and Lucknow between March 23 and April 7.

The big question