IPL 2026: Gujarat Titans pin hopes on big names, batting core in quest for second title

New Delhi, March 26 (IANS) Gujarat Titans head into the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season carrying both the weight of high expectations and the fuel of unfinished business after bowing out of the competition in the Eliminator stage last year. 

Winners in their debut season in 2022 and runners-up in 2023, the franchise will pin its hopes for another title on big names led by Shubman Gill and a batting core that has some vulnerabilities. IANS takes a look at how GT are shaping up ahead of a crucial IPL 2026 season: -

Strength: GT’s foundation rests on a batting record that entered the history books last season. In IPL 2025, GT became the first team in the competition's history to have three batters – Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler -- each crossing the 500-run mark in a single season.

The opening partnership between Gill and Sudharsan produced an average of 65.1, the highest of any pair in the league that year. It was batting that consistently put totals beyond reach before the opposition bowling line-up could regroup.

Up front with the ball, GT's pace attack carries credentials that few sides can match. Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna, the 2025 Purple Cap winner, form a formidable seam bowling unit with both the experience to execute under pressure and the variety to exploit different surfaces.

Weakness: Though their top-order looks rock solid, they come in with a few concerns – Gill comes on the back of being omitted from India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad. Sudharsan arrived after recovering from a rib injury, while Buttler had a poor run of form in the T20 World Cup. If one of them doesn’t strike form big time, GT can find themselves in trouble.

Below that trio, GT’s batting order looks shaky, with no dependable finisher to apply finishing touches to the innings. The spin department also has its own set of concerns – Rashid Khan struggles to get scalps at their home venue in Ahmedabad, while the rest of the spinners arrive after not having much productive time in the domestic season.

Opportunity: The most transformative acquisition of GT's auction signing is of West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder, who can contribute meaningfully across all three phases. Young India pacer Ashok Sharma’s bowling returns will also be keenly watched after having a brilliant time in the 2025/26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Washington Sundar, too, arrives transformed. Since IPL 2025, the Tamil Nadu allrounder has reinvented himself as a high-impact T20 batter. Apart from his handy off-spin bowling, Sundar can provide the batting insurance GT is currently missing below the top three batters.

Threat: The most pressing concern in the GT camp will be Buttler’s form. His performance at the T20 World Cup was very disappointing -- an average of 10.9 across eight innings. Whether that trough represents a temporary dip or something more serious will become clear early in the season, but GT cannot afford to wait for a long time for Buttler to hit form.

The overseas slot selection presents another genuine headache. With Buttler, Rashid, and Rabada near-certain starters, the battle for the fourth slot between Holder's all-round utility and Glenn Phillips' explosive batting will demand a difficult call - one that could leave either a critical bowling option or a key batting resource on the bench for every match.