Gujarat Titans: Another Playoff Berth on The Cards Despite Underwhelming Auction

Gujarat Titans' auction strategy may not have been the most clear but they have finished with a strong team.

A look at Gujarat Titans’ performance in the IPL 2024 Auction will reveal three good things about them:

• They filled every slot and have a full squad of 25 players.

• They did well to buy Azmatullah Omarzai at a bargain to fill the void left by Hardik Pandya's departure.

• They have a well-rounded squad with at least one backup option for almost every slot.

Yet their auction performance was quite underwhelming as they failed to buy some much-needed experienced overseas names who could have turned their team into a formidable side.

It wasn't like they didn't have the resources. Gujarat went into the auction with the highest purse value of Rs 38.15 crore and still had another Rs 7.85 crore left by the end of it, once again the highest among all franchises.

Clearly, it was gross underutilisation of the monetary resources they had. Yes, they engaged in a heated bidding war with KKR to buy Mitchell Starc and went up to Rs 24.50 crore to acquire his services. KKR ultimately walked away with Starc for a price of Rs 24.75 crore but what stopped the Titans from going further is unclear.

It wasn't like they were eyeing other big players. By that time Starc's name came up in the auction, most of the popular and experienced names had already been bought. And nobody was going to bid so hard for uncapped players, neither were they going to have the purse to do so.

However, despite their errors in the auction, Gujarat Titans have ticked quite a few boxes with their acquisition and their performance, even though quite ordinary, places them in good stead for another run to the playoffs.

Gujarat's Top Picks in The IPL Auction

• Shahrukh Khan - Rs 7.4 crore

• Kartik Tyagi - Rs 60 lakh

• Azmatullah Omarzai - Rs 50 lakh

• Robin Minz - Rs 3.6 crore

Shahrukh Khan's acquisition though was probably the Titans’ best move in the auction. They desperately needed another finisher, along with Rahul Tewatia, to increase their batting depth and they got it. Yes, Shahrukh's recent performances haven't been inspiring as he is a bit out of form but everyone has seen what he can do in the death overs. So, Ashish Nehra and co. will try to bring the best out of him once again.

With Hardik Pandya departing, the Titans were left with the difficult task of filling his void. There was probably nobody who could have done it better than Azmatullah Omarzai and they were quite lucky to get him at a bargain price of Rs 50 lakh.

While other teams went for costly options like Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel, Shardul Thakur and others, the Titans decided to place their faith in Omarzai. The Afghan all-rounder was one of the standout performers in the ODI World Cup recently, amassing 353 runs at an average of 70.60 while chipping in with seven wickets.

Having released Shivam Mavi ahead of the auction, Gujarat also needed another quality Indian seamer who is on the younger side as well. And they got that in Kartik Tyagi, whom they bought at a bargain value of Rs 60 lakh again. Tyagi is someone who can bowl with the new ball and can nail accurate yorkers at the death as well. Although he might not get a chance in the first XI in this IPL season, he has a high chance of playing as an impact player.

Nobody had much idea about Robin Minz when teams started going hard after an unknown player like him, but it was evident that he is a promising talent by the time Gujarat sealed his name in their roster for a fee of Rs 3.6 crore.

Hailing from Jharkhand, Minz is a left-handed wicketkeeper-batter. The 21-year-old is said to have brute power and is regarded as left-handed Kieron Pollard in Jharkhand's local cricket circuit.

He has already featured for Jharkhand U19 and U25 teams. IPL franchises like Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders also invited him for trials, which sum up the talent and potential this youngster possesses.

Gujarat's Questionable Picks in The IPL Auction

● Umesh Yadav (Rs 5.8 crore)

● Sushant Mishra (Rs 2.2 crore)

● Manav Suthar (Rs 20 lakh)

● Spencer Johnson (Rs 10 crore)

While the Titans’ decision to buy left-arm spinner Manav Suthar for Rs 20 lakh can still be considered as a harmless move, their decision to spend so much on the other three resources doesn't make sense at all. Umesh Yadav has been pretty good with the new ball in the last couple of seasons but his death overs returns are awful.

Moreover, he is already 36 years old and injury prone, so the Titans clearly didn't have long term vision in mind while splurging nearly six crores on him.

Talking about Sushant Mishra, he doesn't make it to the first XI of his stateside regularly and his numbers aren't inspiring at all in the limited opportunities he has had. After all, the left-arm pacer is just 22 years old. He has seven wickets to his name from four T20 games but he has been pretty expensive, going at 9.37 runs per over. His average of 30.80 in List A games is also on the higher side.

And, as far as things with Spencer Johnson go, 10 crore is a bit too much for someone who has represented his country in only two T20Is so far. He has limited domestic experience as well, featuring in 20 T20 games, seven List A matches and only four first class games.

The left-arm pacer averages 30.23 runs per wicket in T20s and 58.50 in List A format, which are very poor numbers. He has been picked purely on the promise and potential he shows with his high-end pace and left-arm variety.

The Titans have picked Johnson most probably to make up for missing out on Starc, but you can't replace the experience and skills of a seasoned campaigner with an upcoming rookie like Johnson, no matter how talented he could be.

Overall Squad Verdict

Strengths

● Gujarat Titans have good batting depth, with players capable of batting until no.9. The addition of Shahrukh Khan to the XI, will have players like Rashid Khan and Mohit Sharma batting at 8 and 9 respectively.

● Excellent finishing core of David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, and Shahrukh Khan. Miller and Tewatia were already making things difficult for bowlers in the last couple of season and now Shahrukh has arrived to make things even more interesting.

● Good mix of RHB-LHB options throughout the batting lineup.

● Pretty good new ball bowling pair of Mohammed Shami and Joshua Little. Umesh Yadav can also come in when needed, whereas Azmatullah Omarzai is very much capable of wielding the new ball.

● Death overs attack also seems pretty well rounded with Mohit Sharma leading the charge. Shami himself has been pretty good in the death over the last couple of seasons and there is also Kartik Tyagi in the mix. He can walk in as an impact player to deliver in tense games.

● Excellent variety of spinners in Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, R Sai Kishore, and Jayant Yadav. Manav Suthar is also a decent backup option for Sai Kishore.

Weaknesses

● Gujarat Titans lack good middle-order spin hitters. Batters who can take the attack on to quality spinners in crunch situations. Their current middle-order has a pretty defensive mindset against spinners. The Titans may need to compensate for that by tasking Shubman Gill with the responsibility of batting through the middle overs.

● The Titans also lack a pacer who can be an enforcer and break partnerships in the middle overs. Spencer Johnson is pretty much in that mould but he isn't first team material and Joshua Little is better overall.

IPL 2024 Season Prediction

Despite having a couple of major weaknesses, Gujarat Titans have most other bases covered. They have an excellent think tank that propelled them to back-to-back IPL finals, one of which they won, and they look good for another stellar run to the playoffs at least in IPL 2024.