Gujarat Titans Cricket Team

Captain: Shubman Gill
Coach: Ashish Nehra
Home ground: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
IPL titles: 1 (2022)
Owners: CVC Capital Partners

Gujarat Titans were one of two new teams introduced ahead of the 2022 season. CVC Capital Partners won the franchise bid for Rs 5625 crore (approx US$750 million). They picked Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill ahead of the 2022 auction. Pandya was named captain. Ashish Nehra was appointed head coach, Gary Kirsten mentor and batting coach, and Vikram Solanki director of cricket.

Gujarat Titans had a stunning run to the title in their first year, and proved that it was no fluke by almost doing it again in 2023, losing the final to Chennai Super Kings in a last-ball finish.

Coming off a slightly chaotic auction in which their strongest buys were Hardik Pandya (who went on to captain), David Miller, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Shami, few gave them much of a chance. But Hardik marshalled the largely inexperienced side into an all-round package and Titans were a team to beat in their first two years.

Their fortunes turned sharply in 2024 after they traded Hardik to Mumbai Indians and promoted Shubhman Gill – the orange cap winner from 2023 – as captain. Hobbled by injuries and with a rotating, unstable line-up, Titans crashed out of the tournament without making the playoffs.

2024 – eighth
M12 W5 W% 41.6
Titans struggled with bat and ball. Mainstay seamer Mohammed Shami was missed, and though Gill had a decent time with the bat, only Sai Sudarshan in the top five made over 500 runs, and the middle order failed to fire entirely. Rashid found no bite and finished with ten wickets. In all, they juggled 23 players through the season, which translated into just five wins in 12 games.

2023 – runners up
M17 W11 W% 64.7
All season, Titans looked the best team on show, with Mohammed Shami and Rashid Khan taking bagfuls of wickets and opener Shubman Gill peaking in a blaze of batting form towards the pointy end. But MS Dhoni’s CSK crew bested them twice in the final three matches to snatch the title from Titans’ grasp.

2022 – champions
M16 W12 W% 50
Titans became only the second team after Rajasthan Royals to win the title in their first season. They topped the league stage, with ten wins from 14 games, then beat Royals in Qualifier 1 to make the final, where they again defeated Royals on their home ground, in front of 104,859 spectators.

Hardik Pandya
Since his IPL debut in 2015, Pandya had only ever played for Mumbai Indians, for whom he made 1476 runs and picked up 42 wickets. Titans picked him up for Rs 15 crore (US$ 1.9 million approx) and in his first season for them he made 487 runs at a strike rate of over 130 and picked up eight wickets while leading them to the title.He didn’t perform all that impressively with bat or ball in 2023, but his gun team ensured his contributions were not missed.

Rashid Khan
In his first season for Titans, he took 19 wickets – the second most for them – apart from scoring crucial runs at a strike rate of over 200 to help finish matches, enhancing his reputation as a multi-utility player. In 2023, he and team-mate Shami were neck and neck in the battle for the purple cap for most of the season, before Rashid finished with 27, one fewer than Shami.

David Miller
Miller had his best IPL to date in 2022 and made 481 runs at an average of over 68 and a strike rate of 142.72, bringing his finishing prowess to the fore. He enjoyed the backing of the team and won matches from improbable situations. In 2023 he didn’t fare quite so well, but it was a sign of how strong Titans were that they made it to the final nevertheless. Miller only got nine games the following year.

Mohammed Shami
Titans paid Rs 6.25 crore (about US$826,000) for Shami at auction and he was a rock for them in their first two seasons, taking 48 wickets at an economy of 8 runs an over. In 2023, when they finished runners-up, he topped the wicket-takers’ list for the season, with 28 wickets.