3 holes GT might struggle to fill at the IPL 2025 auction ft. Indian all-phase pacers
The Gujarat Titans (GT) endured an upsetting campaign in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL). Missing out on the playoffs for the first time in their short history in the league, the 2022 champions will have higher expectations for themselves for the upcoming season.
The Titans have ₹69 crore to spend at the IPL 2025 auction and one RTM card that can be used on a capped player. Having retained Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan, Gujarat have covered a few key bases.
However, they still have plenty of work to do. Ashish Nehra and the team management will need to assemble the rest of their roster and ensure that a debacle like 2024, when their squad was clearly a notch below the other nine franchises, doesn't happen again. That'll be easier said than done, though.
On that note, here are three holes GT might struggle to fill at the IPL 2025 auction.
#3 GT might once again struggle to find all-phase pacers
GT has retained five players, but none of them are fast bowlers. In fact, only one of them is a frontline bowling option. Given that situation, the Titans will need to construct their entire bowling attack at the IPL 2025 auction.
Over the last few years, Gujarat has been carried by the exploits of Mohammed Shami in the pace attack. Various bowlers, including Lockie Ferguson, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Umesh Yadav, Darshan Nalkande, Spencer Johnson, Josh Little and Mohit Sharma, have been tried out. But none of them have managed to perform for the franchise over a sustained period of time.
That's clearly a recruitment issue, and GT needs to find quality pacers who can bowl across phases. Given their budget and the fact that there aren't many reliable options in the auction pool, that'll be a real challenge.
#2 Gujarat will need to pick Indian middle-order batters
Similar to the fast-bowling department, GT's recruitment on this front hasn't been good enough. The likes of Vijay Shankar and Abhinav Manohar have been their frontline Indian middle-order batters, and both players are clearly not ones that can be built around.
David Miller has often had too much to do, and Tewatia hasn't been able to win a great deal of matches for the franchise. The Titans thus need to secure quality Indian middle-order batters who can follow Gill and Sai Sudharsan in the batting order, while taking some of the pressure off Tewatia and Shahrukh.
This would also allow the team to use their overseas slots in other, more important departments. However, experienced options who can partner the youngsters in the side will be hard to come by. It remains to be seen if they will even take such an approach in the auction.
#1 GT could struggle to find a pace-bowling all-rounder
Hardik Pandya's absence was perhaps GT's biggest stumbling block in IPL 2024. Without their star fast-bowling all-rounder, the Titans found themselves shorthanded in both departments.
Azmatullah Omarzai was penetrative at times with the ball, but while he is immensely talented, the Afghanistan youngster clearly has some work to do before he can be called a finished product. There are also virtually no Indian options in the auction pool.
Marco Jansen, Sam Curran and Romario Shepherd are a few of the only overseas choices available. There will be high demand for them, and even if GT isn't priced out of acquiring one of them, that could leave them without enough funds to plug the rest of the holes in their squad.