Gujarat Team’s Performance in TATA IPL 2024
8
Matches
4
Won
4
Lost
50
Win %
Expected Playing XI
Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Shubman Gill ©, Sai Sudharsan, Azmatullah Omarzai, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, Umesh Yadav, Spencer Johnson
Players to watch out for
Shubman Gill – The opener had a season to remember in 2023 where he piled up 890 runs to win the Orange Cap. He also scored four centuries including two back to back hundreds. However, his form post that season hasn’t reached the same highs again and this time with the responsibility of leading the team, the pressure would be even more.
Rashid Khan – The Afghan leggie continues to be every captain’s delight in whatever league he plays in and took 27 wickets for Gujarat last year. The bowler was brilliant again in Afghanistan’s dream campaign in the World Cup but was out of action in the following three months.
Spencer Johnson – The Australian fast bowler has had a lot of people talking about him as one of the fastest in Australia. With his pace being the X factor, he will be most likely filling up a role that was taken up by Alzarri Joseph and Lockie Ferguson for the team in their first two seasons.
In the last edition’s final, Sai Sudharsan played a fantastic knock when he scored a quickfire 96. The knock showed that the youngster is capable of playing fiery knocks as well when the situation demands. Since then, he has grown as a cricketer, even earning an India debut. The Gujarat franchise would love it if he can step up in TATA IPL 2024 and take up a more important role in the top-order.
Gujarat’s Schedule for TATA IPL 2024
Squad Analysis of Gujarat
While controversy and injury concerns have surrounded the team’s pre-season build-up, it’s expected to have a galvanizing effect on the unit which has a very strong leadership group in the form of Gary Kirsten and Ashish Nehra. Even in the past two seasons, the team didn’t rely on superstars and got performances out of players who hadn’t been stars for their earlier sides. Mohit Sharma’s remarkable comeback was one of the stories of last season. So, the Pandya episode notwithstanding, the team still looks capable of putting up another impressive show this year.
Strengths – The team possesses a run-machine in Shubman Gill while Rashid Khan with the ball is the star that everyone wants in their side. But while the two do their job well more often than not, the team has a lot of other players who keep stepping up whenever the need arises. In David Miller and Rahul Tewatia, the team has two of the best finishers of the league.
Weaknesses – The absence of both Pandya and Shami will be felt as they formed a half of the bowling attack of the side. The team has tried to fill that gap by buying Azmatullah Omarzai and Umesh Yadav in the auctions, but even the players would agree that the shoes that they are trying to fill are way too big.
Last year, Kane Williamson suffered an injury in the first match of the season and had to miss out on the tournament. However, this year, he comes into the tournament not only fully fit but with great batting form and the team would need his leadership qualities as well his calming presence in the middle order in the absence of Pandya.
Gujarat Team in TATA IPL 2024
The Gujarat team was formed only ahead of 2022 edition of the Indian T20 League and when the auction took place, not many thought that they would do what they were eventually able to pull off at the end of the season – lift the trophy in only their first attempt. Led by Hardik Pandya and coached by Gary Kirsten, the team won 10 out of their 14 group stage matches and didn’t flinch once on their path to victory, eventually defeating a spirited Rajasthan in the final of the season. The campaign was a great success for the team because everyone contributed to the team’s cause. The team almost repeated its first season performance in 2024 as well when they seemed to have the Final in their bag against Chennai. But some late heroics from Ravindra Jadeja proved to be the team’s undoing. Despite that, the team’s performance has been nothing short of dominating in the league.
However, ahead of 2024, in a trade news that created a lot of buzz, the management decided to trade Hardik Pandya to Mumbai. That meant an elevation to captaincy for last year’s superstar Shubman Gill who had plundered more than 800 runs in 2024. However, Gill’s captaincy is still untested and the Ashish Nehra-Gary Kirsten thinktank will need to work really hard behind the scenes to not allow the team to miss Hardik Pandya’s services. Moreover, Gujarat’s star bowler from the last two seasons, Mohd. Shami, will also be unavailable for the season due to an injury. While they would definitely be entering the tournament as favorites, It would be interesting to see if Gujarat can match their last two seasons’ form under their new skipper Gill in TATA IPL 2024.
Gujarat’s stats in Indian T20 League
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- Having won 24 of the 34 matches they have played in the league, the team possesses the highest win percentage with 70% wins.
- Shubman Gill became the youngest batter to win an Orange Cap for scoring 890 runs in last year’s tournament.
- Gill scored 572 runs in 9 innings at the team’s home ground Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the second highest for a player at his home ground in a season.
- In 2023, Rashid Khan scored 79 off 32 balls while batting at number 8. This is the highest score in the history of the league for players batting at number 8 or below.
- Mohammad Shami also won the Purple Cap in 2023 for his 28 wickets.
