3 players GT had the penultimate bid for in IPL 2025 Auction who'd have fit the team well ft. Marco Jansen
Gujarat Titans (GT) had a solid Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction. The IPL 2022 champions have built a good-looking squad in their quest for a second title. Going into the auction, they retained a valuable core in Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudarshan, Rahul Tewatia, and Shahrukh Khan.
At the IPL 2025 auction, the Gujarat Titans made some vital additions that have further bolstered their squad. In Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj, they acquired two top-class pacers along with Gerald Coetzee to form a potent pace attack.
They also managed to rope in the likes of Jos Buttler, Sherfane Rutherford, and Glenn Phillips who add to their batting firepower. Further, Gujarat also acquired the services of Washington Sundar, an experienced all-rounder who will give them some much-needed balance.
With the likes of some other additions like Mahipal Lomror, Ishant Sharma, Sai Kishore, and Prasidh Krishna among others, they have built a strong Indian core as well. However, the Titans would have liked to have had a few more players in the squad, whom they had the opportunity to bring in, but failed to do so eventually.
On that note, here are the three players GT had the penultimate bid for in the IPL 2025 auction who would have fit the team well.
#3 Gurjapneet Singh
The tall left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh plays domestic cricket for Tamil Nadu. He has been in decent form, having picked up six wickets from four T20s, playing all games in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He has maintained an average of 19 and an economy rate of 8.76.
Gurjapneet has smooth action and can swing the new ball both ways, with his height being an added advantage. With Kulwant Khejroliya being the only left-arm pacer in the GT squad, Gurjapneet would have been a good fit and a solid backup choice.
Gujarat had the penultimate bid for the left-arm pacer at ₹2 crore. However, five-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings eventually bagged the player with a final bid of ₹2.20 crore.
#2 Mohit Sharma
While the Gujarat Titans do have the likes of Rabada and Siraj in their pace attack, a specialist death bowler would have further benefitted them. The Titans released Mohit Sharma ahead of the IPL 2025 auction.
Mohit had two great IPL seasons with the Titans, picking up 27 wickets in 2023 and 13 in 2024. He is an experienced bowler with key variations such as the cutter and the slower ball. The Titans went after Harshal Patel as well but failed to get him. In such a scenario, they should have ideally pushed to get Mohit back into the squad as their death-over specialist.
They had a long bidding war for Mohit with the Delhi Capitals. The Titans had the penultimate bid at ₹2 crore. However, Delhi outbid them to bag the player at ₹2.20 crore.
#1 Marco Jansen
Marco Jansen would have been a perfect fit to provide the Titans with all-round balance in the team. With the likes of Rashid and Washington, a solid fast-bowling all-rounder would have further strengthened the side.
Jansen is a tall left-arm seamer who can move the ball both ways and would bolster their pace attack. He is more than capable with the bat and showcased his skills in the recent T20I series against India. Along with Rashid at the backend, the two could deliver some lusty blows and add valuable runs.
Jansen would perfectly fit in the GT side as the fourth pacer who also contributes with the bat. Punjab Kings managed to rope in the South African for a final bid of ₹7 crore while Gujarat had the penultimate bid at ₹6.75 crore.