Image Credit- ACB
Gujarat came in
second place, having been defeated by Chennai Super Kings in a match that
needed a third day due to inclement weather. However, they had finished first
in their first two IPL seasons, topping the league table with ten victories and
four losses.
The news that Mohammed Shami will miss the entire season due to an ankle injury
sustained during the 2023 ODI World Cup was devastating for the Titans. In the
2023 Indian Premier League, he took the most wickets (28) and helped the Titans
make breakthroughs during the powerplay (17 wickets, the most in that session).
Matthew Wade, the wicketkeeper, will also miss the season’s opening to
represent Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield final. Uncapped batter-stumpkeeper
Robin Minz, acquired by Titans for INR 3.6 crore, is also a doubtful starter.
Shubman Gill, their
new captain, will be captaining a team for the first time in the IPL. Following
the Titans’ trade of Hardik Pandya, their captain for the first two seasons, to
the Mumbai Indians, the team’s top run scorer from the previous season was
handed the mantle of captain. Gill has only skippered two T20 matches, both of
which were for his state team Punjab in 2019–20.
At the auction, the Titans purchased Australia’s left-arm fast bowler Spencer
Johnson and Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai, an all-rounder. like a top-six
batsman who can also bowl, Omarzai can play the role of an all-rounder, much
like Hardik did when he was well. Fast bowler Umesh Yadav and finisher M
Shahrukh Khan are also new additions to their team, giving their Indian players
more depth.
Last season, Titans
had to play without their new addition, Kane Williamson, who tore his ACL in
the opening game against CSK. Now that he’s fully recovered, he can offer
steadiness at the top of the order.
After a protracted injury layoff, one of the Titans’ biggest assets, Rashid
Khan, made his long-awaited comeback to play during Afghanistan’s recent T20I
series against Ireland. He took eight wickets in the victory (2-1). It was his
first game back after having surgery to treat a back ailment he sustained
during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Prior to the IPL, a
number of important Titans players had also been playing exceptionally well.
Rahul Tewatia had a successful domestic white-ball season, hitting 143.18 in
the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and claiming 15 wickets with his legspin in the
50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy while scoring 352 runs at a strike rate of 131.34.
Sai Sudharsan made his India debut during the previous IPL season and struck
back-to-back half-centuries in his opening two ODI matches in South Africa.
With 53 wickets and two half-centuries at bat, R Sai Kishore emerged as the
Ranji Trophy’s top wicket-taker.
Umesh’s 8.78 in the
first six overs of the 2023 Indian Premier League was the highest economy rate
among the five bowlers who bowled at least 14 powerplay overs. Mohit Sharma has
a higher T20 economy rate of 9.19 and 8.08, respectively, in the middle and
death, whereas Kartik Tyagi and Darshan Nalkande are less effective.
With five games in two weeks, the Titans are among the teams with the busiest
schedule in the first version of the schedule that was released. On March 23,
they play the Mumbai Indians in Ahmedabad in the season’s opening game. From
March 23 to April 7, they have three home games and two away games in Chennai
and Lucknow.