Gujarat Titans, the defending champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, open their campaign on March 31, 2023, against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on their home turf, Ahmedabad. The team, which was introduced during the 15th edition of the IPL  2022 alongside newcomers, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), was one of the most underrated teams during the last season. Ahead of the IPL 2022, the team was written off. However, the Hardik Pandya-led side opened their account with a win against debuting team, LSG. Since registering their first win in their inaugural campaign, the team went on to win 10 out of their 14 allotted group league matches, ensuring a top table finish with 20 points. IPL 2023 Schedule, Free PDF Download Online: Get Fixtures, Time Table With Match Timings in IST and Venue Details of Indian Premier League Season 16.

En route to their maiden IPL title, they met inaugural IPL winners, Rajasthan Royals (RR) twice, and have also defeated them twice – in the first qualifier as well as in the finals of the IPL 2022. With the win against RR in the finals, the Hardik Pandya led-unit became the second team after Rajasthan to claim the coveted trophy in their inaugural season. Furthermore, the win also meant that Hardik won his fifth trophy in his IPL career, especially after having won it four times with his former side, Mumbai Indians (MI), and, lastly, this was his first title as a captain in IPL.

Heading into the auction, Gujarat added further depth to their already-strong-looking squad by acquiring New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson at Rs 2 crores. They bolstered their all-rounding department with the purchase of Odean Smith at Rs 50 Lakhs. Moreover, the one-time IPL winners, added senior wicket-keeper batter, KS Bharat, at Rs 1.2 crore and uncapped pacer Shivam Mavi for Rs 6 crores. This goes to show that the franchise is not only good at scouting talented players but also adept at showing faith in uncapped cricketers, as they purchased Urvil Patel at the base price of Rs 20 Lakhs.

Strengths

With the presence of power-hitters like David Miller, Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, and, Rahul Tewatia, the batting department for Gujarat Titans looks well set and is further augmented with the inclusion of Kane Williamson. Their bowling department also looks fine as it contains proven match winners in the form of Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan, Odean Smith, and, others. On Which TV Channel IPL 2023 Will Be Telecast Live? How to Watch Indian Premier League T20 Cricket Matches Free Live Streaming Online?

Weakness

Although the team has no major weaknesses in their squad but they will be missing the services of former KKR pacer, Lockie Ferguson, who can scare the opposition away with his bounce and pace. Otherwise, the squad is perfectly balanced.

GT IPL 2023 Schedule

The defending champions will open their campaign on March 31, 2023, against four-time IPL champs, CSK. It will be interesting to see whether the home side can do a Déjà vu of their 2022 IPL campaign and defend the title successfully as the second season of the IPL 2009 saw a new team being crowned as the Champions. You can check GT's IPL 2023 full schedule below.

GT IPL 2023 Squad

Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Shivam Mavi, Yash Dayal, R Sai Kishore, Abhinav Manohar, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, KS Bharat (wk), Mohit Sharma, Darshan Nalkande, Urvil Patel, Sai Sudharsan, Pradeep Sangwan, Rashid Khan, David Miller, Matthew Wade (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Kane Williamson, Josh Little, Odean Smith, Noor Ahmad.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 24, 2023 12:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).