On Wednesday, The new Ahmedabad-based IPL team officially revealed their name as Gujarat Titans on Star Sports Network. The Franchise also posted “Shubh Aarambh” (means Good Start) on its official Twitter handle. The Ahmedabad-based franchise will play its first-ever season of the Indian Premier League along with Lucknow Super Giants in this IPL. The world’s largest cricket stadium, Narendra Modi Stadium will be the home ground of the Gujarat team.
Who is the Owner of Gujarat IPL Team
CVC Capital Partners is the owner of the Gujarat IPL Team. The Private equity and investment advisory firm won the bid for the Ahmedabad franchise. They paid INR 5625 crore for the Ahmedabad franchise.
Gujarat Titans Logo
Titans revealed their logo in the metaverse space.
Titans Squad
Gujarat has picked three players ahead of the IPL auction.
1. Hardik Pandya: The Franchise did not waste any time while picking the local boy, Hardik Pandya. Titans have picked Pandya for a sum of INR 15 crore. The All-rounder has been given captaincy duty too. In 2015, Hardik Pandya was picked by the Mumbai Indians for INR 10 Lacs. MI retain him by paying INR 11 crore in the IPL 2018. However, his batting performance significantly drop in the last season and he did not bowl a single bowl which is the main reason behind MI not retaining Pandya for IPL 2022.
The explosive batsman has scored 1476 runs at a blistering strike rate of 153.91. Apart from his batting, he also contributes with his bowling too as he has picked 42 wickets in 92 IPL matches.
2. Rashid Khan: The Ahmedabad-based Franchise has signed Rashid Khan for INR 15 crore. The Afghani spinner made his IPL debut in 2017 with the Sunrisers Hyderabad team. Ahead of the IPL auction 2018, he was retained by the SRH for INR 9 crore. However, SRH management surprised everyone this time by not retaining Rashid Khan. Overall, he has played 76 IPL matches and taken 93 wickets at an average of 20.55. With an economy rate of 6.33, he holds the record for the best economy rate in the IPL.
3. Shubman Gill: Gujarat Mangenment picked Shubman Gill as their third draft pick. Titans have signed him for INR 8 crore. Gill made his IPL debut from the Kolkata Knight Riders side. He was picked by KKR for INR 1.8 crore in IPL 2018 auction. Shubman has played 58 IPL matches and scored 1417 runs.
Titans have picked 23 players in their squad including 8 overseas players.
Gujarat Titans Squad: Hardik Pandya, Wriddhiman Saha, B Sai Sudharsan, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Gurkeerat Singh, Shubman Gill, Lockie Ferguson, Matthew Wade, Jayant Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Abhinav Sadarangani, Jason Roy, Pradeep Sangwan, Vijay Shankar, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Dominic Drakes, Rahul Tewatia, David Miller, Varun Aaron
Gujarat Team Coach
Former Indian fast-bowler, Ashish Nehra is named as head coach of Gujarat Titans. ICC World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten is appointed mentor of the Gujarat team. Vikram Solanki has been given the Director of Cricket role.