Aakash Chopra doesn’t think the defending champion Gujarat Titans (GT) will win in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In their inaugural season, the Titans won the IPL by beating the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the final.
On March 31st, 2023, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, they will face off against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the inaugural match of the Indian Premier League.
Chopra expressed pessimism about the Gujarat Titans’ chances of defending their title on the show “AakashVani,”
“I do not see Gujarat Titans lifting the trophy again because it rarely happens, and teams have been able to do it just twice. This team is definitely good, but can it replicate Mumbai and Chennai’s records – I am not 100% sure. This is the team that can certainly reach the playoffs, but I won’t be surprised if they don’t.”
“If this team has any issues, it comes from the batting. Among the batters are Shubman Gill, Kane Williamson, David Miller, Sai Abhinav Manohar, Sudarshan, and Hardik Pandya. You can keep him both as batter & bowler; Rahul Tewatia & Vijay Shankar can be kept in the all-rounder’s category.”
The former Indian opener has this to say about the Titans’ lack of powerful hitters: “Let us also add the keepers – Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, KS Bharat and Urvil Patel. So many batters are seen, but you feel that if there is any issue, it is here only because they don’t have that much strike power.”
Only Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have won back-to-back IPL titles. In contrast to MS Dhoni and company, who won consecutive titles in 2010 and 2011, Rohit Sharma and company triumphed in 2019 and 2020.
Rahul Tewatia and David Miller shall be two of the essential batters for the Gujarat Titans
“When Shubman Gill plays, he plays very good, he also has a T20I century, but T20 still needs to be his strongest suit. Williamson’s stars have been on wane in the T20 format. You can see some gaps in the middle order, and much focus will be on David Miller and Rahul Tewatia.”
Miller was the Titans’ batting hero in IPL 2022, scoring 481 runs in 16 games at a 68.71 average and a 142.72 strike rate. Tewatia scored 217 runs with a strike rate of 147.61 last season and had a few decisive hits.
