Middle order a worry but Rashid and Ferguson lead potent Titans attack

1 Shubman Gill, 2 Matthew Wade (wk), 3 Wriddhiman Saha/Vijay Shankar, 4 Abhinav Manohar, 5 David Miller, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 R Sai Kishore, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Mohammed Shami.

England batter Jason Roy has withdrawn from IPL 2022 due to bubble fatigue. The rest of the players will be available for the entire season.

The Titans' batting remains thin on paper. As pointed out already, Jason Roy's pullout has disturbed Titans' batting plans completely. While Wade will be the frontrunner to open, it is likely that Shubman Gill will have to be the pivot in the batting order. Hardik Pandya might fancy walking out in the middle order, but he has not played since last November when he turned up for the T20 World Cup. Since then has been working on his fitness.

Another option could be to allow uncapped Karnataka batter Abhinav Manohar, recognised as a power-hitter, more batting time at No. 4 with Vijay Shankar or Wriddhiman Saha at No. 3. The lower order could be manned by the trio of Hardik, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia, who have the firepower to dismantle any bowling attack. And if Miller fails to make an impact, Titans also have an option in the West Indian bowling allrounder Dominic Drakes who can hit sixes lower down the order, as he showed in the 2021 CPL final, or turn up as a pinch-hitting No. 3.

Should the Titans require any back-ups for injuries, they have young batters in Sai Sudharshan and Afghanistan's Rahmanullah Gurbaz - Roy's replacement and the reserve opener - and the experienced Gurkeerat Singh Mann.

The Titans spent heavily on their bowling, shelling out a massive INR 25.25 crore on just three players - Lockie Ferguson (INR 10 crore), Tewatia (INR 9 crore) Mohammed Shami (INR 6.25 crore). Though Ferguson was expensive, the New Zealander has shown the ability to rattle batters with his searing pace. With Shami as the mainstay, the Titans' pace attack looks solid, and they will also hope for Pandya to chip in as the fifth or sixth bowler.

The franchise can also call upon the West Indian quicks Drakes and Alzarri Joseph, along with Varun Aaron and young left-arm seamer Yash Dayal.

The spin department will be led by the Afghanistan star Rashid Khan, with R Sai Kishore, who has thrived in domestic cricket, set to be their left-arm fingerspin option.

Though the Titans splurged heavily on Tewatia, the spin-bowling allrounder has not been consistent with either bat or ball of late. Afghanistan's young Noor Ahmad, who recently featured in the Under-19 World Cup and also the BBL, will be the second overseas wristspinner.

One of the most sought-after players in the mega auction this February, Sai Kishore's stocks have only risen in the last few years. The lanky spinner can bowl across phases and can keep a check on the run rate. Though the 25-year-old didn't get a game for Chennai Super Kings despite being part of their squad in the last three seasons, being part of an IPL set-up and had the opportunity of being a net bowler for India have helped him evolve as a bowler. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament this season, he finished as the leading wicket-taker for Tamil Nadu in their title-winning run, scalping ten wickets in eight matches, while conceding just 6.06 runs an over.

Ashish Nehra (head coach), Gary Kirsten (batting coach and mentor), Aashish Kapoor (spin-bowling coach and scout), Vikram Solanki (director of cricket).