Titans bank heavily on new Gill-Buttler opening act
Siraj, Rabada and Prasidh Krishna form a new and possibly potent pace attack at Gujarat Titans
Abhimanyu Bose
18-Mar-2025
Where they finished last year
Gujarat Titans, after winning the IPL and reaching the final in their first two years, failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 2024. They finished eighth in the league, with five wins, seven defeats and two washouts in their last two matches.
What's new in IPL 2025?
After the rebuild at the mega auction, Titans have a brand new pace attack spearheaded by Mohammed Siraj (INR 12.25 crore), Kagiso Rabada (INR 10.75 crore) and Prasidh Krishna (INR 9.5 crore). They also have plenty of fast-bowling depth in Gerald Coetzee, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Brar, and left-armers Kulwant Khejroliya and Arshad Khan.
Titans look set to open their batting with an exciting new partnership between Jos Buttler, bought for INR 15.75 crore, and captain Shubman Gill. Buttler had a tough time in India earlier this year, though he was England's top-scorer in the T20I series, and also in the Champions Trophy, where his team's group-stage exit forced him to step down as their limited-overs captain. After making 863 runs in IPL 2022, Buttler didn't pass 400 in 2023 and 2024, but his hundred at Eden Gardens last year to chase down 224 against KKR ranks among the league's most legendary innings.
There has been an addition to Titans' coaching team, headed by Ashish Nehra, with former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade, who played for Titans until last year, joining as assistant coach.
Likely best XII
1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Jos Buttler* (wk), 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Sherfane Rutherford/Glenn Phillips*, 5 Washington Sundar, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Shahrukh Khan, 8 Rashid Khan*, 9 R Sai Kishore, 10 Kagiso Rabada*, 11 Mohammed Siraj, 12 Prasidh Krishna
* denotes overseas player
* denotes overseas player
Big question
Watch out for
When Gill made 890 runs in IPL 2023, he seemed a certainty in India's future T20I team. But a cooling off of his form and the rise of competitors have forced him to the sidelines. Gill was not part of the squad that won the T20 World Cup 2024, where Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had opened for India, and even after Rohit and Kohli retired from the format, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson have overtaken Gill in the queue. He needs another explosive IPL to bring him back into India's T20 plans.
While Titans have a solid top three in Gill, Buttler and Sai Sudharsan, and a finisher in Rahul Tewatia, the rest of their batting line-up lacks proven IPL pedigree. The options for the middle and lower order are Sherfane Rutherford or Glenn Phillips (who have played ten and eight IPL matches, respectively), Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Anuj Rawat and Mahipal Lomror. Unless some of these batters surpass what they have done in the past, Titans could find themselves too top heavy this season.
Key stats
- Buttler has had success at his new home ground, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad: he has 317 runs in eight T20s there, with two fifties and a hundred - against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2022.
- With 12 wickets each, Rabada and Rashid were the joint-highest wicket-takers in MI Cape Town's successful run to the SA20 title this season.
- Since the end of IPL 2024, only three bowlers have taken more T20 wickets than Rashid, but none of them have a better average or economy rate. In fact, among bowlers with more than 40 wickets in this period, Rashid has the best average, and only Noor Ahmad (6.52) has a better economy rate than his 6.61.
Who's out or in doubt?
Gujarat Titans are set to go into IPL 2025 with a fully fit squad. Sudharsan, their highest run-scorer last season, had surgery for a sports hernia last December, but is ready now. Shahrukh, who was injured for the second phase of the Ranji Trophy and most of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, is also good to go.
Abhimanyu Bose is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo